MOSCOW — The Russian parliament Monday called upon President Dmitry Medvedev to recognize the independence of two breakaway Georgian republics, a gambit that promises to further inflame tensions between Russia and the United States.
Lawmakers in both houses of parliament voted unanimously for the recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, where a 2-decade-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 would also be viewed as a challenge leveled at Washington. American officials have made plain their support for 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, killing civilians and Russian peacekeepers in the process, Moscow has repeatedly argued.
"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. "Then Georgia wouldn't have risked invading the countries."
President Bush, spending an end-of-summer holiday at his home near Crawford, Texas, said in a written statement that he was "deeply concerned" by the move to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent nations.
"Georgia's territorial integrity and borders must command the same respect as every other nation's, including Russia's," the president said.
The White House announced that Vice President Dick Cheney would travel next week to Georgia, as well as Azerbaijan and Ukraine.
For years, Russia has quietly filled the void left by the republics' distance from the central Georgian government. Residents of South Ossetia and Abkhazia 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 recent eruption of fighting.
