Fresh off his trip to Beijing, U.S. President George Bush delivered a terse message to Russia: Get out of Georgia now.
"Russia's government must respect Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty," Bush said in a short statement from the White House. "Russia's actions this week have raised serious questions about its intentions in Georgia and the region.
"(Russia's) actions have substantially damaged its reputation in the world."
Bush demanded an immediate ceasefire, which Georgia has already agreed to, and that Russian troops withdraw from the war zone.
But many analysts believe that Bush's hands are effectively tied by his "lame duck" presidency status, and even more so by a "no win" political situation.
"When one country conquers another that is typically regarded as pretty serious, and the inability to do anything about it is something the United States is not accustomed to," said Stephen Sestanovich, an expert on Russia and Eurasia at the Council on Foreign Relations, told The Associated Press.
Georgia became a close ally of the U.S. following the collapse of the Soviet Republic, but the Bush administration is willing to send little more than words of support against the Russian tank columns rolling through the country.
The U.S. has also helped fly 2,000 Georgian troops back to their home country from Iraq, where it has focused much of its own military forces, and where Russia has opted against offering material support.
"There's really nothing that George W. Bush can or would or should do," CTV's Washington Bureau Chief Tom Clark told Â鶹´«Ã½net.
"This is no time for the United States to step up to the plate in any meaningful way unilaterally because what seems to be happening here once you sort through all the rhetoric . . . is this is sort of the Cold War coming back.
"This is very dangerous ground."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a statement echoing Bush's Monday night.
Harper called for a ceasefire and condemned Russia's military incursion into Georgia on Monday.
The Group of Seven, which includes Canada, had already called on Moscow to accept a ceasefire with Georgia.
The fighting in Georgia began when the country began an offensive to regain control of South Ossetia. Russia's responded quickly and overwhelmingly -- sending in thousands of troops and bombing parts of Georgia.
By Monday afternoon, Georgia officials said that Russia had effectively cut their country in half.
With files from The Associated Press
