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Russian tanks rolled through the Georgian city of Gori on Wednesday, breaking a ceasefire agreement, and U.S. President George Bush said Russia had damaged its reputation with the West.

Gori is 24 kilometres from South Ossetia, the breakaway province at the heart of the dispute. Russian troops had not been in Gori when the truce was announced, according to Georgian officials.

A BBC reporter in the city said Russian allies in Gori were looting homes and setting homes on fire, as tanks roamed the streets.

Bush said Russia's actions have put its integration in the wider world community at risk.

"To begin to repair the damage to its relations with the United States and Europe and other nations ... Russia must keep its word and act to end this crisis," Bush said Wednesday in Washington.

He announced two steps by the U.S.:

• Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel first to Paris for a meeting with France's President Nicholas Sarkozy, then Georgia, to express "America's unwavering support" for the democratically-elected government of President Mikhail Saakashvili
• The U.S. military has dispatched a C-17 cargo aircraft, loaded with humanitarian supplies, to Georgia

"This mission will be vigorous and ongoing," Bush said, adding naval forces will be also be used to deliver aid.

"We expect Russia to honour its commitment to let in all forms of humanitarian assistance," he said.

"We expect Russia to meet its commitment to cease all military activities in Georgia, and we expect all Russian forces who have entered Georgia in recent days to withdraw from that country."

Georgian officials reacted angrily at Russia's military presence in Gori.

"Russia has treacherously broken its word," said Alexander Lomaia, chief of Georgia's National Security Council. He claimed Russia had moved 50 tanks into the city.

A top Russian general denied there were any tanks in Gori, despite BBC reports to the contrary. Col.-Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of general staff, said Russia went into the city to find Georgian officials to discuss implementing the truce.

Georgia said the Russians seized a military base outside of Gori.

There were reports a Russian convoy headed out of Gori, but there is no word on its destination, although a Georgian official said it wasn't advancing on the capital of Tbilisi.

Bush said Russia's position outside Gori would allow it to block Georgia's main east-west highway, divide the country and threaten Tbilisi.

"We're concerned about reports that Russian forces have entered and taken positions in the port city of Poti, that Russian armoured vehicles are blocking access to that port, and that Russian forces are blowing up Georgian vessels," he said.

Abkhazia

Georgia also said Wednesday its troops have withdrawn from Abkhazia, the second breakaway province. They had been in an area known as the Kodori Gorge.

Some Abkhazian fighters had planted a flag on a bridge over the Inguri River, outside their existing territory.

"The border has been along this river for 1,000 years,'' separatist official Ruslan Kishmaria said.

Georgia would have to accept the new border, he said, adding the Georgian army had received "American training in running away."

Wednesday's accusations of Russian violations came about 12 hours after Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili said he accepted a ceasefire plan put forward by France.

Last Thursday, Georgian troops entered South Ossetia, which broke with Georgia in 1992 and has run its own affairs ever since -- albeit without international recognition. A majority of South Ossetians have Russian passports.

A day later, Russian troops entered the fray. Russia has accused Georgia of killing more than 2,000 people in South Ossetia, mostly civilians. That number can't be independently verified, but interviews with witnesses indicate that a death toll in the hundreds is probable.

Georgia's pro-western president wants to join NATO. Saakashvili said Russia's goal all along has been to destroy his country, a former state in the Soviet Union and one annexed by Russia in the 19th century.

Georgia is slightly smaller in land mass than New Brunswick and sits between Russia and Turkey, putting it at the crossroads of Europe and Asia.

Humanitarian crisis

Georgia estimates that Russian ground and air attacks have killed 175 Georgians (the country's population was 4.4 million as of 2007). At least 55,000 people have crowded into the capital of Tbilisi to flee the fighting.

"Most of the affected people have fled their homes with only the clothes on their back," David Gazashvili of CARE's emergency humanitarian unit told CTV's Canada AM on Wednesday.

Immediate needs include:

• Food
• Water
• Sleeping mattresses and blankets
• Shelter items

A major humanitarian challenge is access to the conflict areas, he said. "So we don't know what is the condition of people who stayed in the conflict area."

In Canada, the federal government has pledged up to $1 million in humanitarian relief.

Stephen Cornish of Care Canada told Canada AM from Ottawa that up to 30,000 people have fled South Ossetia.

"Right now, the access problem is a largely a political one," he said, and both sides must agree to allow unfettered access to humanitarian aid.

With files from The Associated Press