Russia is concerned about US involvement in Georgia

After meeting US Secretary of State Colin Powell, Mr Saakashvili said he wanted to demilitarise the whole region and maintain dialogue with Russia.

The US offered to help ease a dispute which centres on the breakaway regions of Georgia.

Earlier this week Georgia threatened to open fire on ships which "illegally" enter the waters off Abkhazia province.

Russia, which has close ties to the Black Sea province, reacted angrily saying it would respond to any attack on its citizens with "the necessary rebuff".

The last thing we want is some kind of confrontation Mikhail Saakashvili

Moscow's relations with Georgia have cooled since the election of Mr Saakashvili as president in January.

He wants Abkhazia and South Ossetia to return to the fold, while leaders in the provinces still look towards Russia instead of Tbilisi.

Russia is the breakaway Abkhazia's main economic partner and most Abkhaz residents have Russian citizenship, while Russian peacekeepers are deployed both there and in South Ossetia.

Mr Saakashvili announced on Tuesday that his forces were ready to sink shipping off Abkhazia - which includes boats bringing Russian tourists to the region.

'No crisis'

But his words were calmer in Washington on Thursday.

"Our policy is clear: we want to demilitarise, we want to calm things down," he told reporters.

"We want to democratise the whole region and we want to keep dialogue, dialogue with the Russians.

"Certainly, the last thing we want is some kind of confrontation. That's exactly something that they would like to impose on us because they think now we're so vulnerable."

Mr Powell added that the US was anxious to calm the situation down, "remove tensions and the propensity for provocation and get back to dialogue".

"I think there is a bit of tension there, but I don't think we are on the verge of a crisis of the kind that some have suggested," he said.

Moscow, however, has told Washington that it needed to be sensitive to Russia's interests in the region.