(LONDON) - NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer insisted Russia's plans to keep thousands of troops in Abkhazia and South Ossetia was "not acceptable," in an interview published here Monday.

The NATO secretary general told the Financial Times newspaper that the ceasefire brokered by the European Union to end the conflict in Georgia was "difficult to swallow" because it made too many concessions to Moscow.

De Hoop Scheffer, who was to visit the Georgian capital Tbilisi on Monday in a show of support, said the accord brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy provided no grounds for the revival of NATO's relationship with Russia.

Russia said last week that Moscow would base about 7,600 troops in the breakaway Georgian regions -- more than double the number stationed there before last month's conflict.

"Let me say that that is difficult to swallow," De Hoop Scheffer told the British business daily.

The Dutchman said the beefed-up presence contravened Sarkozy's earlier six-point plan which called for both sides to revert to the status quo before the fighting began.

"If the Russians are staying in South Ossetia with so many forces, I do not consider this as a return to the status quo.

"The option of keeping Russian forces in South Ossetia and Abkhazia is not acceptable."

He said the 26-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organization would stick by its decision to suspend regular meetings between NATO and Moscow as long as Russian troops remained in the two rebel regions.

"A speedy revival of the Nato-Russia Council... will not be easy, I think," the 60-year-old said.

De Hoop Scheffer's two-day visit to Tbilisi, accompanied by all 26 NATO ambassadors, will include talks with President Mikheil Saakashvili on Georgia's bid to join the organisation and on reconstruction needs, NATO and Georgian officials said.

The NATO chief said his message to Georgia would be: "You are a democracy, act like a democracy, strengthen your democracy, strengthen the rule of law."

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