Brussels  - NATO on Tuesday said the redeployment of "several hundred Russian military personnel" into the Georgian region of Abkhazia violated international law and was contributing to instability in the area.

In a statement, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the redeployment clearly contravened Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, "which NATO strongly supports."

"These forces should be withdrawn, and both Russia and Georgia should engage quickly in a high-level and open dialogue to de- escalate tensions," the secretary general said.

Earlier Tuesday, the Kremlin said Russian president Dmitry Medvedev had addressed the issue with his Georgian counterpart, Mikheil Saakashvili.

Georgia has demanded the immediate withdrawal of the over 300 Russian troops, which were deployed to Abkhazia to repair its railway lines.

Tbilisi has called the move "yet another step towards annexation."

Russia's Foreign Ministry says the troops are in fact unarmed military engineers.

Long simmering tension erupted last month when Russia announced it was strengthened diplomatic ties and its peacekeeping presence in Abkhazia in what analysts see as a response to Georgia's aspirations to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Russia has had some 2,500 peacekeeping troops in Abkhazia since a ceasefire ended civil war in 1994, and most residents of the autonomous region have held Russian passports since 2000. (dpa)