A loader prepares cargo for unloading Friday from the flagship of the U.S. 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean, the USS Mount Whitney, in the Georgian port Poti, Georgia. The USS Mount Whitney has delivered more aid for Georgia despite Moscow's accusations that previous U.S. military assistance encouraged Georgia to launch its South Ossetia offensive.

Poti, Georgia ? The flagship of the U.S. Navy’s Mediterranean fleet anchored Friday outside this key Georgian port, delivering humanitarian aid in a slap at Moscow.

The USS Mount Whitney was the first Navy ship to travel to Poti since Georgia’s five-day war with Russia last month. The continued presence of hundreds of Russian soldiers here has been a point of friction between Russia and the West, which insists Moscow hasn’t honored a cease-fire deal to pull back to positions held before fighting broke out Aug. 7.

On the water, the Mount Whitney rode at anchor in choppy seas and a brisk wind as Navy officers escorted visitors around. One of Poti’s two Russian camps could be seen from the deck, the blue flag used by Russian peacekeeping forces flapping in the breeze.

Two U.S. ships had come and gone from Georgia carrying humanitarian aid, but they anchored at Batumi, a smaller port to the south with no Russian military presence.

‘Threat of tyranny’

The in-your-face anchorage at Poti came as Vice President Cheney visited nearby Ukraine, another former Soviet republic that feels threatened by Moscow’s military belligerence.

Cheney pledged that the United States is committed to Ukraine’s security and freedom and said Ukrainians should not be forced to live under a Russian “threat of tyranny, economic blackmail and military invasion.”

In Portugal, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Russia was “deepening its isolation” by not honoring commitments to withdraw its troops from Georgia.

But Russia delivered a diplomatic counterpunch, receiving support Friday from the leaders of six other former Soviet republics who issued a joint statement condemning Georgia for using force to try to retake control of its separatist province of South Ossetia.

The declaration by members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization – linking Moscow with Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – also praised Russia for “helping peace and security” in the region.

However, the allies did not go as far as the Kremlin and recognize Georgia’s two separatist areas – South Ossetia and Abkhazia – as independent nations. On Friday, the leftist president of Nicaragua made his Central American nation the only other state to offer such recognition.

Kremlin suspicions

Russia has voiced suspicion of the arrival of the Mount Whitney and other U.S. warships carrying aid. It says U.S. military assistance in the past encouraged Georgia to launch its offensive in South Ossetia and argues the new shipments could be a cover for weapons deliveries.

U.S. officials dismiss those accusations, saying the ships are carrying only humanitarian supplies.

“There are absolutely no weapons of any sort on these ships,” said Capt. John Moore, commander of the Navy task force bringing aid to Georgia.

In an apparent reference to a $1 billion aid package for Georgia announced by Washington on Wednesday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sternly warned against providing more assistance to Georgia.

“We don’t want that Georgia, which acted as the aggressor, continues to arm itself in an uncontrolled way,” he said.

During the war, Russian forces bombed Poti, which has a large oil shipment facility, attacked the port and sank eight Georgian naval vessels in the harbor. Hundreds of heavily armed soldiers that Russia calls “peacekeepers” are camped just four miles from the port.

Still, traffic flowed freely past two Russian checkpoints Friday. Ketino Kebuchava, the owner of a small grocery store in Poti, welcomed the U.S. warship’s arrival.

“We are a small country and we need help,” he said. “We welcome anyone but the Russians.”

The Mount Whitney carried more than 17 tons of humanitarian supplies loaded on 40 pallets, all due to be unloaded today, said Capt. Owen Honors, the vessel’s commander. But the huge ship could have accommodated far more aid, suggesting its mission was as much political as practical.

The ship will unload aid at Poti’s commercial port, next door to a badly damaged Georgian naval base.

Evidence of looting

Signs of destruction were all around. The missile boat Dioskuria – the flagship of Georgia’s small navy – sat with its hull under water, badly damaged communications masts protruding. The windows of Georgia’s naval headquarters were shattered, the buildings pockmarked by bullet holes.

The port’s director of security, Vakhtang Chichradze, said there was little that Russian troops didn’t steal, saying they hauled away chairs, light switches, radiators and even five U.S.-made military Humvees.

“They took armchairs, toilets – everything,” he said.

Minister David Kezerashvili told The Associated Press that the command ship’s arrival sent a strong message to Moscow. “It’s very important for an American ship to stand for the defense of democracy against the totalitarian regime of Russia,” he said.

In Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry official Andrei Nesterenko said there was no talk of military action, but again questioned the use of Navy ships. “It is unlikely that warships of this class can deliver humanitarian aid in great quantities,” he said.