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Medvedev Backs Independence Bids
President Dmitry Medvedev signaled Thursday that he would support independence bids by Georgia's separatist provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as Russian troops roamed in Georgia proper, prompting outcries that Moscow was violating a truce reached with Tbilisi this week. "We will support any decisions made by the people of South Ossetia and Abkhazia ... and not only will we support them, but we will guarantee them both in the Caucasus and throughout the world," Medvedev told Abkhaz leader Sergei Bagapsh and his South Ossetian counterpart, Eduard Kokoity, in the Kremlin.

The two separatist leaders were in Moscow to sign a document outlining the principles for a settlement of the Russian-Georgian conflict.

Russian troops poured into South Ossetia last Friday, rebuffing an attempt by Georgia's military to reclaim South Ossetia by force. Having routed Georgian units in the separatist region, the troops then moved into Georgia proper, saying it needed to destroy Georgian military bases and positions near the towns of Gori and Senaki to protect South Ossetia from further attacks.

Abkhazia and South Ossetia have long sought to be recognized as independent states. Russia never objected to their bids but formally pledged to respect Georgia's territorial integrity.
And if you can't trust the Russers when it comes to territorial integrity who can you trust?
This week's truce says nothing about Georgia's territorial integrity, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made it clear Thursday that the issue was not open for discussion. "You can forget about any talk about Georgia's territorial integrity because, I believe, it is impossible to persuade South Ossetia and Abkhazia to agree with the motion that they can be forced back into the Georgian state," Lavrov told reporters.

Lavrov later told Ekho Moskvy radio that mentioning Georgia's territorial integrity in any document connected to the settlement of the conflict would be regarded by South Ossetians and the Abkhaz as a "profound offense of human dignity."
Posted by: Fred 2008-08-15
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=247188