By Anna Nemtsova

On a sunny afternoon two Georgian police commanders stood on a tiny bridge over a dizzying mountain gorge and the roiling water of the Kodori River. They waved to Russian peacekeepers on the other side, inviting them to come across and talk to a group of foreign correspondents. After a few minutes, two Russian soldiers slowly walked to the middle of the bridge, but only to ask the reporters to please stop taking pictures of them. "We will not come over for any discussions," one said, and walked back.

The Georgian commander in this obscure but seemingly ever worsening standoff in the Caucasus Mountains, Soso Bregvadze, said the tension is increasing to "the boiling temperature" after the Russians deployed an additional 400 paratroopers and artillery men in Kodori. In an ominous sign, Russian peacekeepers, he noted, stopped saying "Hi" to Georgians on the other side of the bridge. "Only a few weeks ago, we could have tea with Russians and take pictures of each other on this bridge," he said with a sigh. "Not any longer.

The tension between Russia and Georgia over Abkhazia, the Georgian separatist republic, has been growing steadily since last year - and many Georgians fear that tensions will boil over into full scale armed conflict soon.