Russia isolated over Georgia, Putin attacks U.S.

By Denis Dyomkin and Francois Murphy

DUSHANBE/PARIS (Reuters) - Russia faced increased diplomatic isolation over its military action against Georgia on Thursday, with its Asian allies failing to offer support and France saying EU leaders were considering sanctions.

Moscow accused the West of heightening tension by a naval build-up in the Black Sea, and said talk of punishing Russia for recognising the independence of two breakaway Georgian regions was the product of a "sick" and "confused" imagination.

Russia's powerful Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in a CNN interview he suspected someone in the United States had provoked the Georgia conflict to make the situation more tense and create "a competitive advantage for one of the candidates fighting for the post of U.S. president." He did not elaborate.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Putin's allegations were "patently false" and the U.S. State Department said it was "ludicrous" for the Russians to say they were not responsible for what had happened in Georgia.

Moscow has defied pressure from the United States and European powers to pull out of Georgia and looked east to its Asian allies, including China, for support at a regional summit.

The grouping, meeting in the Tajik capital Dushanbe, repeated a regular call for the "respect of territorial integrity" and did not follow Russia's lead on recognising the two breakaway regions of Georgia.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, Russia's closest ex-Soviet ally, said the Kremlin "had no other moral choice but to" recognise the Georgian regions. Russian agencies quoted his ambassador to Moscow as saying Minsk could soon follow suit, but the embassy later said his comments had been misinterpreted.

The crisis flared early this month when Georgian forces tried to retake the separatist province of South Ossetia and Russia launched an overwhelming counter-attack.