Georgia cuts diplomatic ties with Russia

TBILISI, Georgia, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Georgia has officially notified Russia it is cutting formal diplomatic ties, the Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday.

The Russian ambassador, Andrei Smaga, confirmed he had been told and called Georgia's move "a mistake," the RIA Novosti news agency reported. Georgia said Friday it was responding to Russia's recognition of the independence of the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Smaga said that on Wednesday the embassy in Tbilisi will close down. He was unsure when embassy staff and their families would leave the country.

Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of the Russian General Staff, said Tuesday that Georgia appeared to be sending special forces to the area near the South Ossetian border.