Russia set to recognize Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia, Abkhazia

The upper house of parliament, or Federation Council, voted 130-0 to approve a non-binding resolution calling on President Dmitry Medvedev to recognize the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent.

Georgia and Russia fought a brief, but intense war over the pro-Moscow province of South Ossetia, which Tbilisi sought to return under the central government’s control.  Â

"Today it is clear that after Georgia's aggression against South Ossetia, Georgian-South-Ossetian and Georgian-Abkhazian relations cannot be returned to their former state," upper house speaker Sergei Mironov said during the debate.

"The peoples of South Ossetia and Abkhazia have the right to get independence," he was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Russia's lower house, State Duma, also voted 447 for the resolution with none against later on Monday, according to a screen showing voting results in the parliament chamber, a Reuters reporter said.Â

The resolutions could either signal Medvedev's intentions or be intended to strengthen his hand as he negotiates the status of Russian forces in Georgia with the West.

The two regions broke away from Georgia in the 1990s and declared independence. No country has so far recognized them.

Most Russian troops have left Georgia proper after days of occupation. But they have beefed up posts in and around both regions, prompting criticism from the West and Georgian leaders. Moscow says the residual troops are peacekeepers needed to avert further bloodshed and protect South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

But Georgia and the West object to the scale of the Russian-imposed buffer zone adjoining the two rebel regions, which hands Moscow pressure points on key oil and trade routes through Georgia to the Black Sea.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who negotiated on behalf of the European Union the peace plan which ended nearly a week of fighting, on Sunday announced a special European summit on the crisis in Georgia will be held Sept. 1. The summit in Brussels will discuss the future of relations between the EU and Russia and on aid to Georgia.

The United States, which has said Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization could suffer, on Sunday delivered 55 tons of aid aboard the warship USS McFaul, a gesture of support for its close ally, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.

"CONTINUATION OF RUSSIAN AGGRESSION"

A call by Russian lawmakers for Moscow to recognize Georgia's two rebel regions is a continuation of Russian "aggression" against its ex-Soviet neighbor, the Georgian Foreign Ministry said on Monday. Â

 

"We consider this decision another step in Russia's fight against Georgian sovereignty," Deputy Foreign Minister Giga Bokeria told Reuters.

 

"It is, and will be, if accepted by the Russian president, a continuation of Russian aggression against Georgia and a serious violation of international law."

 

BARGAINING CHIP
Formal recognition by Russia of the independence of South Ossetia and the Black Sea province of Abkhazia, would put it on a collision course with the United States and other Western nations which insist on Georgia's territorial integrity.

On Aug. 14 Medvedev told separatist leaders in Moscow that Russia would support a drive for self-determination by Abkhazia and South Ossetia and vowed to guarantee any such move.

However, the Kremlin could -- as it has done in the past -- ignore pleas by parliament that would exacerbate its confrontation with the West, and instead use domestic pressure as a bargaining chip in future negotiations with the West.

Russia has so far resisted repeated calls for formal recognition by South Ossetians and Abkhazians, although Kremlin officials have hinted that the Western recognition of Serbia's breakaway region of Kosovo has created a precedent.

But diplomats say the Kremlin is also worried about separatist pressures in some of Russia's own Caucasus regions and may be reluctant to grant South Ossetia independence for fear of creating a domino effect at home.

Moscow says its armed intervention averted a "genocide" of Ossetians by Georgia, and Russian leaders have said it is unthinkable the rebels would agree to reunite with Georgia.

Despite repeated demands for a complete Russian pullback to positions before the conflict, the West lacks leverage over a resurgent Russia, whose oil and gas it depends on.