MOSCOW - Leaders of Georgia's two breakaway provinces promised Friday to provide military assistance to each other if Georgia attempts to resolve either of the conflicts by force and appealed to Russia for support.

At a news conference in Moscow, Abkhazian Prime Minister Anri Dzhergeniya and South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity expressed concern about the deployment of U.S. military instructors in Georgia who are to train an anti-terrorist force there.

The two leaders accused the Georgian authorities of "conducting large-scale military preparations to try to bring Abkhazia and South Ossetia back into Georgia's fold under the pretext of fighting international terrorism," the Interfax-Military News Agency reported.

U.S. officials have expressed concern that terrorists linked to al-Qaida may be sheltered in the lawless Pankisi Gorge in northeast Georgia, where both rebels and refugees from neighboring Chechnya have taken refuge. Currently, about 70 U.S. military instructors are in Georgia.

"There are serious grounds for concern that a stronger Georgian military potential could be turned against both South Ossetia and Abkhazia," Kokoity said, according to Interfax.

South Ossetia broke away from Georgia after a 1991-1992 civil war, and Abkhazian separatists drove away Georgian forces a year later. Peace talks have stalled as both rebel provinces have refused to bow to Georgian control. Russian peacekeepers have been deployed to both provinces to act as a buffer force.

Georgian officials have repeatedly accused Russian peacekeepers in Abkhazia of siding with separatists and doing nothing to ensure the return of some 300,000 ethnic Georgian refugees.

Kokoity and Dzhergeniya on Friday accused the Georgian authorities of contacting Chechen rebels in a bid to encourage them to launch a military action against Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Georgian authorities have denied such allegations in the past.

Kokoity said that only building closer ties with Russia could help maintain peace in the region.

Some Russian politicians have voiced strong concern about the U.S. deployment to Georgia, saying it may threaten Russia's security, but President Vladimir Putin, who has made friendship with the United States a priority, has not objected to the U.S. mission there.