The West has threatened to revoke Russia's membership in the G-8 as punishment for the country's 'military incursion' into Georgia.

The announcement was made Wednesday as Britain and the US said that Russia could be expelled from Group of 8 industrialized nations as well as other international institution for invading Georgia.

The move was backed by Latvia and Poland while Italy, Germany and France as holders of the rotating EU presidency have been reluctant towards taking sides.

Earlier the NATO allies announce their support for Georgia in confrontation with Russia saying the Caucasus nation stays on course to one day join their alliance - a prospect Russia strongly opposes.

NATO ambassadors, at a meeting with the Georgian envoy to the alliance, strongly backed sovereignty and independence of Georgia, said NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, calling Georgia "a friend ... and a highly respected partner of NATO."

The issue of Georgia's NATO membership remains "very much alive" and is up for a decision in December, said De Hoop Scheffer.

After separation from the Ex-Soviet Union Georgia has staked its future on leaning West.

A US Air Force cargo plane loaded with 'humanitarian supplies' touched down in Georgia on Wednesday, hours after President George W Bush promised support to the embattled country on A C-17 airlifter, which is used by the military for rapid and strategic delivery of troops.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said the Georgian leadership is a special project for the US.

The US "will have to choose to support either a virtual project or a real partnership on issues that truly demand collective actions," he said

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has warned Russia that it would face isolation if it failed to respect an agreed ceasefire in the Georgian-Russian conflict.

Under the agreement, reached on Tuesday, Georgia will have to accept a humiliating climb-down over its independence-seeking provinces in return for peace.

The Russia-Georgia conflict erupted after Georgia launched a major offensive Friday against the independence-seeking province of South Ossetia.

Russia, the main ally of South Ossetia, responded by sending in armed convoys and military combat aircraft. Most South Ossetians hold Russian citizenship.

MSM/MMN