A Reuters correspondent near the Roki tunnel that links Russia with Georgia's pro-Russian rebel province of South Ossetia said about 40 trucks covered with tarpaulin crossed the frontier from midday.

"Some were obviously laden.

Most of them seemed to be empty, riding high on their suspension," he said.

"And there was no sign of armoured vehicles or of artillery."

A local official said no Russian armour had crossed in the night.

Western powers, working through the United Nations and Nato, have raised pressure on Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to speed a promised pullout after two weeks of violent confrontation.

Impatience is turning to skepticism over delays.

"Three times Medvedev has said they are starting the withdrawal and they have not," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was quoted in the International Herald Tribune newspaper as saying.

"We cannot accept this kind of blindness, not accepting international law."

At the United Nations, Western powers pushed for a Security Council resolution calling for an immediate Russian withdrawal from Georgia, but veto-holding Russia declined to back it.

A draft text referred to "the territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders."

Russia argues that phrasing implies the pro-Russian rebel region of South Ossetia, at the centre of the conflict, should be reintegrated into Georgia proper.

Russia says this is a remote prospect after the bloodshed of the last two weeks.

Near the village of Igoeti, the closest Russian checkpoint to the capital Tbilisi, Russian troops wearing helmets with the sky-blue bands of peacekeepers were digging into foxholes at the side of the road.

There was no sign of Russian convoys on the move there, some 45 km from the capital.

The crisis erupted on August 7-8 when Georgia tried to recapture South Ossetia, which broke with Tbilisi in 1992.

Russian forces hit back, thrusting beyond the region into the Georgian heartland, overrunning the army in fierce fighting.

Medvedev, who has worked closely during the crisis with his mentor and powerful Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, announced on Sunday his troops would begin withdrawing on Monday.

But Washington said on Tuesday it had yet to see any serious pullout and accused Russia of targeting civilians and wanting to strangle Georgia.

"It's becoming more and more the outlaw in this conflict," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said of Russia, escalating a stream of criticism from Washington.

Nampa-Reuters

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