Georgia/Russia

Separatist regions ask for Russian recognition

Article published on the 2008-08-20 Latest update 2008-08-20 17:22 TU

A Russian tank on patrol in South Ossetia.
(Photo : Reuters)

As tensions rise between Russia and the West, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the separatist Georgian regions at the centre of the conflict, asked Moscow to recognise their independence on Wednesday.

The internationally unrecognised leaders of the two rebel regions issued written pleas to Moscow asking for recognition. 

The Russian parliament announced Monday that it would hold an emergency session to debate how the Russia would deal with them in the future.

Recognition would be a setback for the Georgian government of pro-Western Mikhail Saakashvili, which has been courting Europe and the United States since the "Rose Revolution" of 2003.

Although the fighting has died down in Georgia, the diplomatic crisis is increasing, with both the US and Russia making aggressive and provocative moves. The United States has finalised a deal to put ballistic missiles in Poland as part of their missile shield - a move that Russia has openly opposed for years.

Russian troops are slowly withdrawing from Georgia after last week's incursion. The French-brokered ceasefire continues to hold, despite Russian insistence that they would keep a military presence in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which was not part of the original six-point agreement.