The Russian Ambassador to NATO played down the impact of the emergency meeting of the Western alliance, saying: "The mountain gave birth to a mouse."
The allies say they will not convene any more meetings of the NATO-Russia Council until Russian troops withdraw from Georgia. But they bowed to concerns from Europe -- which depends heavily on Russia for energy -- and stopped short of adopting specific long-term steps to punish Moscow.
In a small victory for the United States, NATO foreign ministers did agree to create a commission to oversee Georgia's bid to join the alliance and begin providing military training to its army.
