WASHINGTON - THE United States and Georgia signed a strategic partnership accord here on Friday in a reaffirmation of US support for Georgia's sovereignty after its war with Russia in August.

The charter shows the way to boost 'cooperation in defence, trade, energy security, strengthening democratic institutions, people-to-people contacts and cultural exchanges', Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at the signing ceremony.

'The United States supports and will always support Georgia's sovereignty and its territorial integrity as well as its Euro-Atlantic aspirations,' she said before signing the document with her Georgian counterpart Grigol Vashadze.

'The pace of Georgia's integration with Nato should depend on the desires of Georgians themselves and on Georgia's ability to meet Nato's standards,' Dr Rice said.

The accord, similar to a strategic agreement Washington has recently signed with Ukraine, risks raising tensions with Russia, which fought a brief war with Georgia over the breakaway region of South Ossetia in August last year.

Post-war tensions between Russia and Georgia are already running high.

Mr Saakashvili on December 22 hailed the US-Georgia treaty as a 'historic' move that will allow the two countries' relations to progress towards a new stage.

An analyst with the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs, Mr Tornike Sharashenidze, said last month 'the accord in question is not about creating military guarantees for Georgia's security. It's mostly of moral force'.

The US signed similar strategic partnerships with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in 1998, when the three countries were seeking to join Nato in the face of fierce opposition from Moscow.

The US-Baltic Charter was seen as a key tool in moving the countries towards membership in Nato, which they joined in 2004. -- AFP