Russia backs independence of Georgian regions

"Neither Abkhazia ... nor South Ossetia will be part of the Georgian state," Abkhazia Leader Sergei Bagapsh tells lawmakers before vote.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Russian tanks and cows 224.88 (photo credit: AP)
Russian tanks and cows 224.88
(photo credit: AP)
Russian lawmakers on Monday asked the president to recognize the independence of Georgia's two rebel provinces, a move likely to anger the small Caucasus nation's Western allies. The vote by all the 130 members of the Kremlin-dominated Federation Council, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, came after a brief war between Russia and Georgia following Georgia's assault on the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali Aug. 7. The vote was not legally binding and it was up to President Dmitry Medvedev to make the final call. Experts say the plea by the Russian legislature would give the Kremlin an extra bargaining chip in its dealings with the West. Currently, neither Russia nor any other member of the United Nations recognizes those claims. Both countries won de-facto independence in the 1990s after wars with the government in Tbilisi, and have survived ever since with the financial and political support of the Kremlin. Russian forces overwhelmed the Georgians, and for nearly two weeks occupied positions deep within the small South Caucasus country. Most of those forces withdrew Friday, although they continue to operate near the Black Sea port of Poti and in so-called security zones outside the boundaries of the breakaway regions. The West has criticized Russia's failure to withdraw to positions it occupied before the conflict. "Neither Abkhazia ... nor South Ossetia will be part of the Georgian state," Abkhazia Leader Sergei Bagapsh told lawmakers from the upper chamber Monday before the vote. The parliament's lower house was to vote on the same issue later in the day. The military conflict between Russia and Georgia, whose pro-Western leaders have tried to shed Moscow's influence and sought NATO membership, has brought Russian-US relations to a post-Cold War low.