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South Ossetia, Abkhazia get security cover

MOSCOW: Russia has established diplomatic relations with Abkhazia and South Ossetia and vowed to defend them against aggression.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met the Foreign Ministers of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Moscow on Tuesday to exchange notes on the opening of diplomatic ties and initial friendship treaties with the two regions, which would be signed later on by the heads of state.

Bilateral treaties of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance call on Russia and the former enclaves of Georgia “to jointly take all measures available to them… to counter acts of aggression by any state or a group of states, and to render any assistance that may be required, including military help,” said Mr. Lavrov.

Under the treaties, Abkhazia and South Ossetia would grant Russia “the right to build, use and update military infrastructure and facilities” on their territory. Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev instructed Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov to work out plans to “deploy bases” in Abkhazia and South Ossetia in response to their requests. The defence chief said he planned to station about 3,800 troops in each region. Russia has agreed to withdraw its forces from Georgia’s core territory after European monitors are deployed in Georgia.

Georgia’s President Mikheil Saakashvili signed up to the plan and gave a written pledge to renounce the use of force against Georgia’s former territories.

Russia has expressed “regret” over the U.S. decision to freeze a bilateral nuclear pact the two countries signed last year. Moscow described the freezing as “mistaken and politically motivated move.”

The U.S. step “goes against the strategic framework agreement the Russian and U.S. Presidents reached during their April meeting in Sochi,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, a day after President George W. Bush recalled the nuclear pact from the U.S. Congress.

This decision would hit the U.S. nuclear industry just as hard as the Russian industry, it added.

The deal would allow Russia to store and reprocess U.S. spent fuel and would give the U.S. access to Russian nuclear technologies.

The cancellation may derail Russia’s plan to establish a uranium-enrichment centre, which both countries said would discourage Iran and other countries from developing their own fuel cycle.

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