One month to the day after the start of their conflict, Russia and Georgia were Sunday awaiting a visit by French President Nicolas Sarkozy aimed at shoring up an uneasy truce in the Caucasus.
Sarkozy, whose nation holds the European Union presidency, will go first to Moscow, then to Tbilisi against the backdrop of souring relations between Russia and the U.S. reflected in increasingly tough rhetoric over the weekend.
Moscow's mayor Yury Luzhkov entered the fray Sunday, saying the "crushing" defense that Russia mounted against Nazi Germany during World War II should serve as a warning to Georgia and the United States, its main ally.
"Let that be a stern and appropriate reminder to those who surround Russia with their missiles and bases," Luzhkov said.
Referring to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, he added: "Let it be a warning to Saakashvili's regime."
Sarkozy - who dashed to Moscow and Tbilisi five days after the conflict erupted on August 7 to broker a ceasefire that has failed to see a full retreat of Russian troops - will be joined this time around by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
In particular, he will seek Russian acceptance of an E.U. observer mission in Georgia and the setting of a date for international talks on the future of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
A NATO delegation was meanwhile expected Monday to visit Georgia, which has an open-ended promise of membership in the transatlantic alliance, to evaluate damage to military infrastructure.
In the toughest talk yet to come out of the Bush administration, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney accused Russia Saturday of "brutality" and seeking Soviet-style dominance.
For his part, speaking to senior officials at the Kremlin, President Dmitry Medvedev declared that "Russia is a state that has to be reckoned with from now on" and that the "world changed" when the Georgia conflict erupted.
It was on the night of Aug. 7 - as world attention was focused on the start of the Beijing Olympics - that Georgia began its attempt to regain control of the Moscow-backed breakaway region of South Ossetia.
Georgian forces briefly held the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali before they were routed by Russian tanks and troops that poured through the Roki tunnel - the only road route through the Caucasus Mountains from Russia.
By Aug. 12, when Sarkozy rushed to Moscow and Tbilisi, the Russian army - thanks in good part to overwhelming air support - had strategic control over large swathes of Georgia, a key corridor for Caspian Sea oil and gas exports.
Hundreds of people on both sides were killed, tens of thousands displaced from their homes, and extensive destruction wrought on Tskhinvali and surrounding villages.
Western countries repeatedly called on Russia to withdraw all troops from Georgia, then reacted in horror when Moscow Aug. 26 recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia, a second breakaway region, as independent states.
Russia - which says it intervened to protect South Ossetians granted Russian citizenship since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union - slowly pulled back most of its forces.
But it says that the remainder - thought to number a few thousand soldiers - will stay put until international controls, including observers and police, are in place to deter a fresh Georgian attack.
Moscow also wants Tbilisi to sign a non-aggression pact and argues the Russian troop presence is in line with the ceasefire agreement, which foresaw "additional security measures" by Russia in the conflict zone.