Russia on Thursday admitted its fighter jets overflew the breakaway Georgian territory of South Ossetia in a sortie that took place just hours before Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, visited Tbilisi with a message of support.

It was the first time in years of tension between Moscow and Tbilisi that Russia has made such an admission, even though it has frequently been accused by Georgia of flying warplanes over its territory. The foreign ministry statement is the latest escalation in a dispute in which Russia has backed South Ossetia and Abkhazia, a second Georgian separatist territory, partly to put pressure on Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia’s pro-west president, and block Tbilisi’s efforts to join Nato.