Russia warned the West today against supporting Georgia's leadership and called for an arms embargo against the ex-Soviet republic until a different government is in place.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's remarks are likely to anger the United States and Europe and enrage Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.
Mr Lavrov made it clear Moscow wants Mr Saakashvili out of power in Georgia.
"If instead of choosing their national interests and the interests of the Georgian people, the United States and its allies choose the Saakashvili regime, this will be a mistake of truly historic proportions," he said.
"For a start it would be right to impose an embargo on weapons to this regime, until different authorities turn Georgia a normal state," he said in an address at Russia's top foreign policy graduate school.
His comments came as US Vice President Dick Cheney prepares to leave for a trip to Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Italy tomorrow.
Elsewhere, the European Union prepared for a summit today to discuss the Georgia crisis and further relations with Russia.
The three-hour meeting will review the basis of Europe's relations with Russia and the recognition of independence of the breakaway Georgian territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia by Moscow.
"Today's EU summit should clear up a great deal. We hope the choice they make will be based on Europe's fundamental interests," he said. He said Russia's relations with Nato are facing a "moment of truth."
Russia's ties to the West have been driven to their lowest point since the Soviet collapse of 1991 by the war last month in Georgia, where Mr Saakashvili angered Moscow by courting the West and seeking Nato membership.
Russia repelled a Georgian offensive against the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia and sent troops, tanks and bombers deep into undisputed Georgian territory, where some still maintain positions. Moscow last week recognised South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia, as independent countries.
The US and Europe have accused Russia of using disproportionate force and of violating the terms of a cease-fire that called for the sides to withdraw their forces to pre-conflict positions. They have also denounced Russia's recognition of the separatist regions, saying Georgia's borders must remain intact.
Russia says it was provoked. Russian peacekeeping forces were stationed in South Ossetia before the war and Moscow had given most of South Ossetia's residents Russian passports in recent years, enabling the Kremlin to argue that it was defending its citizens when it responded to Georgia's August 7th offensive in the separatist province.
European Union leaders seeking to punish Russia for its war with Georgia and its recognition of independence for two breakaway Georgian provinces have few options and are likely to choose diplomatic pressure to isolate Moscow at their summit in Brussels today.
Yesterday, British prime minister Gordon Brown adopted a tough position, indicating that Russia's membership of the G8 grouping of big industrial democracies could be frozen, an option that found some support from Germany.
France is worried that any tough action agreed by 27 European leaders at this afternoon's summit in Brussels will provoke Russian retaliation and undermine its chances of playing the peacemaker.
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said today that member nations are preparing to send hundreds of civilian monitors to Georgia to verify whether Russian forces are complying with a cease-fire agreement.
He said the observers would be deployed initially across areas controlled by Georgian forces.
"We would like to have the ... mission deployed soon," Mr Solana said, adding he hopes the EU approves the plan in the coming weeks.
Agencies