Georgia accused Russian troops near the breakaway region of South Ossetia of opening fire on Sunday after a convoy carrying the Georgian and Polish presidents approached, forcing them to turn back, officials said. In a statement, the Georgian government said the convoy -- with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and his Polish counterpart Lech Kaczynski in a dark Mercedes-Benz sedan -- "came under fire from a Russian checkpoint."
A spokesperson for Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said Russian troops manning a checkpoint on the boundary since a five-day war in August opened fire when the convoy approached-- a claim that Russia denied.
Spokesman Nato Partskhaladze was not present at the scene, just south of the town of Akhalgori, but told a televised news conference Russian forces "were not happy to see us and reacted in this barbaric way."
"Aggression continues in Georgia," he said. "The ceasefire and the European Union-brokered agreement are being violated."