Russia recognizes 2 enclaves

Move escalates tensions with US

Residents of Tskhinvali celebrated the recognition of South Ossetia by the Russian Federation yesterday. Moscow, defying the West, also recognized Abkhazia, another breakaway region of Georgia. (VIKTOR DRACHEV/AFP/Getty Images)

MOSCOW - President Dmitry Medvedev recognized the independence of two breakaway regions of Georgia yesterday and called on other nations to do the same, escalating what has become one of the most serious conflicts between Russia and the United States since the end of the Cold War.

Medvedev also promised a military response to US plans to install a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, the Associated Press reported. Washington insists the system is designed to counter the threat from Iran or North Korea, but Russia says it is aimed at blunting Russia's nuclear capability.

"We will have to react somehow, to react, of course, in a military way," Medvedev was quoted as saying yesterday by the RIA-No vosti news agency.

In a statement broadcast live on national television, Medvedev said he signed decrees recognizing South Ossetia and Abkhazia because it was the "only way to protect people's lives." He said Russia had tried for years to resolve the ethnic conflict between Georgia and the two provinces through peaceful negotiations but Georgia's pro-Western president, Mikheil Saakashvili, made a negotiated settlement impossible by trying to seize South Ossetia by military force and killing its residents.

The Georgian government "made its choice in the early hours of Aug. 8," he said, referring to a military operation launched by Saakashvili to try to quell a separatist movement in South Ossetia. The move prompted a Russian incursion deep into Georgian territory.

In a written statement issued at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, President Bush yesterday urged Russia to reconsider its "irresponsible decision" and respect the borders of its Georgian neighbor.

"Russia's action only exacerbates tensions and complicates diplomatic negotiations," the president said.

The White House also said the United States will use its veto power in the UN Security Council to ensure that the two separatist provinces remain part of Georgia in the eyes of the world.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that any push by Russia to do otherwise will be "dead on arrival" at the United Nations.

Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama also issued statements condemning Russia's action, saying Moscow should be further isolated from the international community.

McCain, a Republican, said the move "deserves condemnation from the entire international community, and Russia must understand that its violations of international law carry consequences."

In his statement, Obama, a Democrat, said: "The US should lead within the UN and other international forums to cast a clear and unrelenting light on the decision, and to further isolate Russia internationally because of its actions."

Russia's unilateral recognition of the separatist provinces over the objections of the United States and Georgia's other Western allies, after a five-day rout of Georgian forces by the vastly larger Russian military, represented a bold reassertion of Moscow's power over a region it considers part of its sphere of influence and that its leaders worry has tilted too far toward the West. The Kremlin has singled out Saakashvili, perhaps the most pro-American political leader in the region, as a menace, and some analysts say Russia's recent moves are aimed at undermining if not toppling him.

The United States, meanwhile, has tried to buttress his government. US naval ships in the Black Sea are due to begin delivering aid today to the Georgian port of Poti, where Russian troops last week moved in and out at will, sinking Georgian military vessels. Vice President Dick Cheney is scheduled to travel to Georgia next week as part of a trip that will also include stops in two other former Soviet republics, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

Georgian officials characterized Medvedev's action as a de facto annexation of the two Russian-allied provinces, and its Western allies were quick to condemn it.

On a trip to the Middle East, Rice called Medvedev's action "regrettable," and diplomatic officials in the United Kingdom, Italy, France, and Germany rejected the move as well.

"This contradicts the basic principles of territorial integrity and is therefore absolutely unacceptable," said Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, who called Medvedev's action a violation of international law, according to a report from the Bloomberg news service.

South Ossetian political leaders treated Medvedev's announcement as a moment of liberation.

"This is a great day for our country and for our people," Eduard Kokoity, president of South Ossetia, said on Russian television. "Russia has saved us from genocide and has granted us the opportunity to develop and live on our own land. We are with Russia without end."

Kokoity said his people were prepared for any Georgian reaction. "We know the emotions of the Georgian president," he said. "We will enforce security measures so as to prevent any act of terrorism or sabotage on the part of Georgia. . . . They will try to spoil our holiday as much as they can. We know from the past what kind of provocations by Georgians are possible."

According to wire service reports, Kokoity also proposed placement of a permanent Russian military base in South Ossetia, while the Kremlin announced that it would establish formal diplomatic ties with the two regions and propose "cooperation and friendship treaties."

Sergei Arutyunov, a scholar of the Caucasus region at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said Russian recognition of the breakaway provinces represents a sharp departure from traditional Kremlin policy opposing separatist movements out of a fear of setting a precedent that Russia's own ethnic minorities could use to press for independence. In addition, he cautioned, the return of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to the Russian sphere of influence may embolden nationalists in Russia to press for the recovery of other former Soviet territories, such as the Crimean region in Ukraine.

On Monday, Russia's parliament unanimously urged Medvedev to recognize the independence of the two breakaway regions. Over the objections of the United States and Georgia's other Western allies, both Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin declared that Moscow was ready to suffer a breakdown in relations with NATO and setbacks in its efforts to join the World Trade Organization.

The defiant statements and the resolution adopted by both houses of parliament, which is under the Kremlin's firm control, appeared coordinated to signal that Russia will not give in to demands that it withdraw all of its troops from Georgian territory and is prepared to deepen the international crisis if the United States and Europe attempt to retaliate.

Material from the Associated Press and Reuters was included in this report.