Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia is ready to contribute to a settlement of conflict between Georgia and its separatist province of South Ossetia.

"Russia is prepared to do what is within its power to contribute to a settlement and the restoration of Georgia's territorial integrity," Putin was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi.

However, Russia "does not intend to take upon itself inappropriate function and come out one side or the other," Putin said, noting it is "ready to act as mediators and guarantors of the understandings that can be achieved."

He dismissed the argument the crisis in Georgia "is assuming a bilateral Russian-Georgian nature," blaming the Georgian authorities of taking "foolish" move to strip South Ossetia and Abkhazia of their autonomous status amid Soviet collapse.

"This foolish decision started ethnic conflicts. And today it's a recurrence of what happened at the beginning of the 1990s," the president said.

He said his trip to Georgia is "inappropriate" under deteriorating situation there.

Georgia accuses Russia of backing the two renegade regions while Russia has called for the settlement of the crisis by peaceful means.

Exchanges of fire persisted in the conflict zone between Georgia and South Ossetia in recent days amid escalating tensions since late May when Saakashvili briefly sent troops into the region.

Saakashvili has pledged to reunite the country by taking the region and another breakaway republic, Abkhazia, back under central control while South Ossetia has sought to integrate into the neighboring Russia.

(Xinhua News Agency August 19, 2004)