* Russia says Georgia plans revenge on rebels * Russia tells United States not to sell arms to Georgia By Conor Sweeney MOSCOW, April 2 (Reuters) - Russia accused Georgia on Thursday of planning revenge against pro-Moscow separatists and warned the United States against arms sales to Tbilisi. Georgia's U.S.-trained armed forces were routed by Russian troops during a five-day war last August when Tbilisi tried to retake its rebel South Ossetia region by force. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said on Monday the threat from Russia remained high and that Georgia needed stronger armed forces. "Such comments by Mr. Saakashvili... only prove the self-evident -- Tbilisi has not learnt the lesson from last year's events in the Caucasus and probably cherishes plans of revenge," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko told a news briefing. Russia has repeatedly accused the United States and Ukraine of supplying arms to Georgia. "As for foreign assistance to Tbilisi to restore (Georgia's) military potential, it cannot be viewed otherwise than as encouragement of the aggressor," Nesteremko added. "We expect that the United States, Ukraine and other nations considering themselves to be responsible international players will take this into account in their policy," he said. Georgia has pledged to rebuild its military, estimating direct damage from the war in terms of destroyed bases and armour at $200 million. The Georgian Defence Ministry says training will focus more on defence than peacekeeping missions. Visiting Tbilisi this week, U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff vice-chairman Gen. James Cartwright said Washington remained committed to providing training "and other assistance" to the Georgian military in support of reform efforts. "The tragic experience we have has unambiguously demonstrated that to give weapons into the hands of today's Georgian leadership is extremely dangerous for the neighbouring nations, for the whole region and even Georgia itself," said Nesterenko. Moscow's ties with Washington and NATO plunged to the lowest point since the Cold War after Russia briefly occupied large chunks of Georgian land and promptly recognised South Ossetia and another rebel region, Abkhazia, as independent states. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama held their first face-to-face meeting in London on Wednesday, agreeing to hit the restart button to thaw the two nuclear nations' chilly relations. (Additional reporting by Matt Robinson in Tbilisi) (Reporting by Conor Sweeney; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Richard Williams)
Ukrainian pro-communist activists take part in a demonstration against Ukraine's membership in NATO in Kiev April 2, 2009. REUTERS/Konstantin Chernichkin (UKRAINE POLITICS CONFLICT MILITARY IMAGE OF THE DAY TOP PICTURE) ...
