Focus on Georgia's rebel regions
2008-08-25 10:10
Moscow - Russian lawmakers announced on Monday they would recognise Georgia's two breakaway regions as independent, a move certain to further damage Moscow's strained relations with the West.
Both houses of Russia's parliament were to convene in emergency sessions to examine appeals for recognition from South Ossetia - where fighting this month prompted Russia to send in tanks and troops - and Abkhazia.
In a sign the vote was certain to go through, leaders of United Russia, the pro-Kremlin party that holds a commanding majority, said they supported the appeal.
The two rebel regions "have all the attributes of independent states", the speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament, Sergei Mironov, told deputies ahead of a vote on recognition.
Recognition would represent a break with the international community on the status of the rebel regions, potentially redrawing the map of the strategic Caucasus Mountains, located between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.
Moscow has backed the separatists in Abkhazia and South Ossetia since their break with Tbilisi in the early 1990s but had stopped short of declaring them independent from Georgia.
The regions are internationally recognised as part of Georgia and a move to declare them independent would further dent relations with the West, which have plunged to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War over Russia's intervention and insistence on maintaining positions deep inside Georgia.
"Neither Abkhazia nor South Ossetia will ever again live in one state with Georgia," Abkhaz leader Sergei Bagapsh told the upper house of parliament.
Special European summit
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 would be held on September 1.
The summit in Brussels will discuss the future of relations between the EU and Russia and providing aid to Georgia, Sarkozy's office said.
Russian troops poured into South Ossetia on August 8 to repel a Georgian attempt to regain control of the breakaway region. After smashing Georgian military forces in South Ossetia Russian troops then pushed deep into Georgia, including through Abkhazia.
Russia withdrew tanks, artillery and hundreds of troops from their most advanced positions in Georgia on Friday, saying it had fulfilled all obligations under the French-brokered peace agreement.
But Russian troops still control access to the port city of Poti, south of Abkhazia, and have established other checkpoints around South Ossetia.
The six-point peace plan negotiated by France has been interpreted differently by Russia and the West, with Russia claiming it has the right to leave peacekeepers deep inside Georgia in a buffer zone.
France, Britain, the United States, Nato and other Western powers have demanded Russia pull back further.
An AFP reporter saw Russian troops holding at least six positions in an 80km area around Poti on Sunday.
Humanitarian aid 'a cover'
Georgian officials said Russian forces were also maintaining eight positions in central Georgia around South Ossetia, including one a few kilometres from the strategic city of Gori on the main road into the region.
A US Navy destroyer carrying relief supplies arrived at a Black Sea port in Georgia on Sunday in a sign of support for its ally.
The USS McFaul dropped anchor off Batumi, 50km south of the Russian-occupied port of Poti, the first of three ships carrying aid to help Georgia deal with an estimated 100 000 displaced people.
A top Russian general on Saturday accused Nato countries of using humanitarian aid as "cover" for a build-up of naval forces in the Black Sea.
A US coastguard ship passed through the Turkish straits on Sunday en route for Georgia while the USS Mount Whitney, the flagship of the US Mediterranean Sixth Fleet was to set sail for the Black Sea at the end of the month.
Analysts see Georgia's pro-Western path and determination to join Nato as key issues in the conflict, with Russia angered by the prospect of another neighbouring country being part of the Western military alliance.
Many also view Moscow's move towards recognising South Ossetia and Abkhazia as payback for the West's recognition of Kosovo earlier this year despite vehement Russian objections.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last week signalled Moscow was ready to consider recognition of the two rebel regions' independence, saying Russia would "make the decision which unambiguously supports the will of these two Caucasus peoples".
The recognition motion is expected to pass the State Duma and Federation Council, but the real decision lies with the Kremlin.