Medvedev: Georgia pullout is only answer

MOSCOW, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says only a pullout of Georgian troops from the conflict zone in South Ossetia can bring an end to armed clashes there.

The Times of London reported Medvedev delivered that message to U.S. President George Bush Saturday as the Georgian parliament officially put the nation on a war footing and called on Russia to accept an immediate cease-fire.

Bush, attending the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, said, "I'm deeply concerned about the situation in Georgia. The attacks are occurring in regions of Georgia far from the zone of conflict in South Ossetia. They mark a dangerous escalation in the crisis."

The crisis rapidly escalated Saturday, with both Russia and Georgia accusing each other of conducting "ethnic cleansing" in South Ossetia. Russian tanks rolled into the region Friday in response to a Georgian attack against Moscow-allied separatists there. The separatists claim 1,500 people have been killed, an assertion Tblisi vehemently disputes.