The Russian-Georgian conflict over control of the Georgian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has become an international crisis. The United States, the European Union, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey are now involved in the conflict in various ways, in addition to Russia and Georgia. Other forces in the …

Russian forces have sunk several vessels in Georgia’s military port of Poti, Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel Hamid has reported from the scene.   The attack on Wednesday follows a day of dramatic developments in the Russia-Georgia conflict amid what appears to be an escalation of military action on the ground.

Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia’s president, has told tens of thousands of people at a rally outside the country’s parliament that Georgia will quit the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and urged Ukraine to follow suit.