Officials said Rice would arrive for dinner with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, whose efforts to integrate his country into the NATO alliance have prompted consternation in Moscow.
Russia on Wednesday accused Washington of fanning tensions around two separatist Georgian areas that have Russia's formal backing and said the Georgian leadership was taking the Caucasus region to the brink of war.
Those who "shield the provocateurs and blame everything on Moscow are doing a great disservice to the Georgian leadership and strengthening its sense of impunity," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"That is the only way to assess recent comments from representatives of the US State Department."
On the eve of her visit Rice fired off her own broadside, saying that recent Russian actions had worsened the situation in Georgia.
Republished permission of FOCUS Information Agency
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