Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania said his convoy had come under fire on Friday in the breakaway region of South Ossetia where a dispute between separatists and central government has turned violent.
No one was injured in the shooting during Zhvania's visit to Georgian-populated villages of the region, which is resisting President Mikhail Saakashvili's bid to take it back under central control after 12 years of effective independence.
"Everyone knew my route and everyone knew what my cortege looked like but still they opened fire," Zhvania said on television, without specifying who had opened fire.
But parliamentary speaker Nino Burdzhanadze was fast to blame separatist forces and Russian peacekeepers, deployed in the region under a deal that ended bloody conflict in 1992.
"This will have a large international significance and retaliatory measures will follow," she said. "We will see what the reaction of the international community is to this shooting by Ossetian separatists with the help of Russian peacekeepers."
Both the Russian peacekeepers' commander and separatist leader Eduard Kokoity, quoted by Interfax news agency, denied involvement in the attack, similar to one last week when gunmen fired on the car of a Russian parliamentarian visiting the area.
Mountainous South Ossetia and the Black Sea region of Abkhazia, both bordering Russia, broke away from Tbilisi's control in wars after the break up of the Soviet Union. Local leaders have rejected overtures from the new Georgian government, preferring to look to Moscow for support.
Georgia has repeatedly accused Russian peacekeepers in the region of siding with separatists and providing them with weapons. Russia accuses Georgia of violating the peace deal.
Friday's attack came a day after three people were killed in the worst exchange of fire between Georgians and Ossetians in two months of the latest conflict. Shooting continued on Thursday night, injuring three people.
After the attack, parliament passed a non-binding resolution calling for Russia's role in South Ossetia to be redefined and for a more international peacekeeping force. Even if Saakashvili were to demand such a revamp, it is not clear whether this alone would be enough to overturn the original peacekeeping agreement.
Russia poured cold water over proposals to send extra international observers under the auspices of watchdogs such as the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
"There is no need to increase the OSCE presence in South Ossetia or geographically expand its operating zone," Interfax quoted Russian envoy Mikhail Mayorov as saying.
Envoys from Russia, Georgia and South Ossetia were meeting to work out a compromise to end violence in the region.
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