Russia orders halt to war, Georgia skeptical

By Oleg Shchedrov and Matt Robinson

MOSCOW/TBILISI (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered a halt to military operations in Georgia on Tuesday but U.S. officials could not confirm fighting had ended and threatened Moscow's membership in important global clubs.

The United States is also likely to cancel a joint naval exercise with Russia to show its disapproval of Moscow's military actions in Georgia, U.S. officials said.

"Frankly, the entire Medvedev agenda is at stake here," a senior U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The United States would like to see Russia's plans to integrate into international organizations succeed, but "that's what's at stake when Russia engages in behavior that looks like it's from another time," the official said.

Both Russia and Georgia have now declared a ceasefire, but each side has accused the other of failing to keep its promises. The fighting erupted when Tbilisi tried to retake by force the pro-Russian region of South Ossetia last week. Moscow responded with a massive counter-offensive.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, leading an international mediation effort, endorsed a peace plan in the Kremlin alongside Medvedev and then flew to Tbilisi. He cautioned that Russia and Georgia, who have been fighting since Thursday, had yet to agree a peace deal.

"We don't yet have peace," he told a news conference. "But we have a provisional cessation of hostilities. And everyone should be aware that this is considerable progress. There is still much work to be done."

In a first U.S. reaction to the ceasefire, Washington's envoy to the region, Matthew Bryza, termed the Russian move "extremely positive."  Continued...