Russian lawmakers meet on Georgian regions
Russian lawmakers meet on Monday to discuss pleas by Georgian separatists for Moscow to recognise their independence, a move that could stoke tensions with the West over Russia's military intervention in pro-Western Georgia.
Georgia opposition leader dies suddenlyThe lower and upper houses of parliament will debate a draft resolution calling for the rebel regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia to be recognised as independent of Georgia, Russian news agencies reported.
The non-binding resolutions could flag Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's intentions or be designed to strengthen his hand with the West as he negotiates the status of Russian forces in its former Soviet vassal.
EU president France, which brokered a ceasefire in the conflict which has killed hundreds of people and made thousands more homeless, called a September 1 meeting of EU leaders to discuss the crisis and review the bloc's relations with Russia.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said ties with Moscow could be scaled back if its troops were not fully withdrawn.
The United States, which has said Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organisation could also suffer, on Sunday delivered 55 tonnes of aid aboard the warship USS McFaul a gesture of support for Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili that is likely to further inflame anti-West sentiment in Moscow.
Russia sent in troops on August 8 to crush Georgia's bid to retake the pro-Moscow rebel region of South Ossetia, rattling markets and shocking Western states alarmed by the Kremlin's assertive behaviour in a key oil and gas transit route.
Moscow, which withdrew the bulk of its forces from Georgia's heartland on Friday, says residual troops are peacekeepers needed to avert further bloodshed and protect Georgia's separatist, pro-Moscow provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
But Georgia and the West object to the scale of the Russian-imposed buffer zone adjoining the two rebel regions, which hands Moscow pressure points on key oil, gas and trade routes through Georgia to the Black Sea.
Washington and Europe fear the continued Russian presence in Georgia will cement the country's ethnic partition and undermine Saakashvili's pro-Western government.
|
|
