WASHINGTON — President Bush today accused Russia of "bullying and intimidation" in its harsh military treatment of Georgia, saying the people in the former Soviet republic have chosen freedom and "we will not cast them aside."

Bush ratcheted up his rhetoric against Moscow as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pursued a diplomatic solution to the week-old crisis. Rice was in Tbilisi for talks with pro-Western Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili about details of the cease-fire, which would require Russia to withdraw its combat forces from Georgia but allow Russian peacekeepers to remain in South Ossetia and conduct limited patrols outside the region.

"Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected," said Bush, speaking just outside the Oval Office before traveling to his Texas ranch for a two-week stay. Bush said he would get regular updates from Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates about the continuing showdown between Moscow and Tbilisi over two separatist provinces in Georgia.

With just five months remaining in his administration, Bush faces one of his biggest foreign policy challenges in dealing with a suddenly assertive Russia, along with unfinished wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the search for peace in the Middle East. Bush's influence is waning as the world turns its attention to the race to determine who will succeed Bush.

Bush said Russia, with its air, sea and land attacks in Georgia, had damaged its relations with the United States and other Western powers.

"To begin repairing relations with the United States, Europe and other nations and to begin restoring its place in the world, Russia must respect the freedom of its neighbors," Bush said.

The United States has rushed humanitarian aid to Georgia.