Russian forces in Georgia were fortifying positions as the beleaguered nation and its Western backers anxiously await a promised withdrawal.

A top Russian general said that it could be 10 days before the bulk of the troops leave the country altogether.

Russian troops continued to control Gori, which straddles Georgia's main east-west highway, and the village of Igoeti about 50 km west of Tbilisi.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has promised that his forces would pull back as far as South Ossetia and a surrounding zone by Friday.

Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov reiterated that late on Thursday, saying that Russian forces would begin pulling back toward South Ossetia at 6 am (0200GMT) and be finished by day's end.

Meanwhile, NATO has said that Russia has halted all military cooperation with the Western alliance, in the latest sign of East-West tensions.

NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero said on Thursday that the organisation had received notification through military channels that Russia's Defense Ministry had taken a decision "to halt international military cooperation events between Russia and NATO countries until further instructions."

The US immediately played down the significance of the Russian decision, saying that NATO had already effectively frozen cooperation in protest at Russia's continued military presence in much of Georgia.

The US State Department, however, did term the Russian move as "unfortunate."