"We have received the notification from the Russians though military channels and they say that they have decided to halt international military cooperation events between Russia and NATO countries until further instruction," spokeswoman Carmen Romero said from the NATO headquarters in Brussels.

"We take note of the Russian decision," she added.

Almost immediately the White House warned that there could be no Russia-NATO military cooperation until the crisis in Georgia has been "resolved."

"I can't imagine a circumstance right now (in which) we would engage in military cooperation with the Russians until the situation in Georgia is resolved," US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe told reporters in Crawford, Texas.

A Russian official said the head of Moscow's mission to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, was heading back home for consultations.

Rogozin had been holding near-daily press briefings in which he belittled NATO and accused Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili of ethnic cleansing, likening him to Hitler, Stalin and Saddam Hussein.

"Right now it is too early to make confirmation that all military cooperation has stopped," the Russian official in Brussels told AFP.

"Mr. Rogozin will be in Moscow for consultations with our leadership and after that we can confirm or refute" the reports, he added.

However, RIA Novosti news agency subsequently reported that Rogozin had confirmed a temporary freeze ahead of a formal decision being taken by Russia's leadership during a Friday meeting.

"Cooperation with NATO is a complex issue and until the Russian political leadership makes a decision on its future, the defence ministry has frozen military cooperation with the alliance," he was quoted as saying.

The NATO spokeswoman recalled that NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer had already said that it "cannot be business as usual with Russia."

"We are not abandoning the NATO-Russia Council but as long as Russian forces are occupying a greater part of Georgia, I cannot see a NATO-Russia Council convening at any level," Scheffer told reporters Tuesday.

Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said later Thursday, quoted by the Interfax news agency, that withdrawal from Georgia would be completed on time.

"As per the order of the supreme head of the armed forces, on Friday August 22 at 6:00 am local time (0200 GMT), all Russian forces will begin their withdrawal from Georgian territory to South Ossetia," Serdyukov was quoted as saying.

The normal joint NATO-Russia military activities include training and exercises, military logistical cooperation, missile defence activities, naval cooperation, military exchanges and search and rescue at sea, the spokeswoman said.

The Russian navy has already announced it was cancelling its participation in naval manoeuvres planned in the Baltic Sea as part of its partnership with NATO, and said it was currently "not considered possible" to host the US naval frigate Ford.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier Thursday that Moscow is not planning to "slam the door" on NATO, but the alliance must choose partnership with Moscow over support for Georgia.

Georgia on August 8 launched a military offensive against pro-Russian breakaway South Ossetia -- which unilaterally declared its independence after the fall of the Soviet Union -- in order to regain control.

The Georgian operation failed after Moscow intervened, sending troops, tanks and warplanes into South Ossetia to defend Russian citizens in the breakaway republic.

The Russian troops that stormed into Western-backed Georgia two weeks ago showed little sign of movement Thursday, although Moscow promises to withdraw them by the end of Friday.

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