MOSCOW — The Russian parliament called upon President Dmitry Medvedev to recognize the independence of two breakaway Georgian republics on Monday, a gambit that promises to further inflame tensions between Russia and the U.S.
Lawmakers in both houses of parliament voted unanimously for the recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, where a decades-old rebellion ballooned this month into a bloody struggle between Russia and U.S.-backed Georgia.
Recognition of the rebel republics as independent countries would amount to an attempt on the part of Moscow to redraw the borders of the former Soviet Union. By attempting to chop away territory from a neighboring nation with close ties to the U.S., the declaration also would be viewed as a challenge leveled at the Bush administration, which supports Georgia’s territorial integrity.
But in Russia, officials have described the decision as a matter of moral urgency. Georgia lost its right to keep its borders intact when it launched a military operation in South Ossetia early this month, Moscow contends.
“Russia should have recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia long ago, and should have followed it up with defense cooperation and assistance treaties long ago too,” said Mikhail Delyagin, chairman of Moscow’s Institute for Globalization Studies.
For years, Russia quietly has filled the void left by the republics’ distance from the central Georgian government. Residents of South Ossetia and Ab k hazia carry Russian passports, collect Russian pensions, trade in Russian rubles and even voted in this year’s election for Russian president. Hundreds of Russian peacekeepers were stationed in the republics long before the eruption of fighting.
President Bush appealed to Russia’s president Monday to refrain from recognizing the regions as independent. The move came as the White House announced Vice President Dick Cheney would visit Georgia.
