The Russian military has forced Georgian troops to retreat from South Ossetia.

GORI, Georgia - Georgian troops retreated from the breakaway province of South Ossetia on Sunday as their U.S.-allied government ordered a cease-fire and pressed for a truce, overwhelmed by Russian firepower in a conflict that threatened to set off a wider war.

Russia deployed a naval squadron off the coast of another of Georgia’s separatist regions, Abkhazia, and its jets bombed the outskirts of Tblisi, the Georgian capital.

Georgia’s Foreign Ministry said its soldiers were observing a cease-fire on orders of the president and notified Russia’s envoy to Tbilisi.

“Georgia expresses its readiness to immediately start negotiations with the Russian Federation on cease-fire and termination of hostilities,” the ministry said in a statement.

The Russian Foreign Ministry had no immediate response to the Georgian offer.