In a move that is likely to cause alarm from Georgia's Western allies, including the U.S., both houses of the Russian parliament unanimously voted for the recognition of the breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent from Georgia.
Monday's development coincides with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili warning of "disastrous results" if the Kremlin redraws the post-Soviet map and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev hinting about Moscow severing its relations with the NATO.
This has added to the tension in the Caucasus, with Russian troops still inside Georgia and the arrival of a U.S. warship carrying aid at a Georgian port.
Russia's upper house, the Federation Council, unanimously approved a resolution, formally calling on President Dmitry Medvedev to recognize the independence of the breakaway regions.
This was followed by a similar resolution from the lower house, the State Duma, later in the day.
The Federation Council approved the resolution by a 130-0 vote, while all the 447 members of the State Duma voted for it.
Although the resolutions are not binding on the President, Medvedev is said to favor such a move, as it justifies Moscow's military intervention in Georgia after the latter invaded its two pro-Russia breakaway provinces.
Both the regions are internationally-recognized as a part of Georgia. Russian troops successfully fought a Georgian offensive to regain control of South Ossetia that began August 7.
The special session of the parliament was convened at the request of separatist leaders in the two Georgian provinces.
Both Abkhaz President Sergei Bagapsh and his South Ossetian counterpart Eduard Kokoity were present in the Russian parliament when the voting was held.
Addressing the Federation Council, Kokoity said there was more political and legal legitimacy for recognizing the independence of South Ossetia than there had been for Kosovo.
"Russia saved our region from genocide," the South Ossetian leader said.
Federation Council speaker Sergei Mironov said during the debate that Georgian-South-Ossetian and Georgian-Abkhazian relations "cannot be returned to their former state."
Both South Ossetia and Abkhazia have had de facto independence since breaking away from Georgia in the early 1990s. They have relied on financial and political support from the Kremlin.
Russian forces entered South Ossetia on August 8 after Georgian attacks killed dozens, including Russian peacekeeping troops, in the breakaway region.
Five days of intense fighting killed hundreds of Ossetians and drove thousands of others from their homes.
The fighting ended with a EU-brokered ceasefire deal and a promise by Moscow to pull back most of its forces by August 22.
Russia claimed that all its forces, except the peace-keeping troops in the "buffer zone," left Georgia's heartland by Friday night. But Tbilisi said Moscow was determined to keep a grip on the country.
In an interview published Monday, Saakashvili warned that Russia's recognition of the two separatist republics would lead to "disastrous results, including for Russia."
He told the French daily, Liberation, Russia is attempting to "redraw Europe's borders by force" after invading Georgia and later debating in parliament a unilateral change of status for the breakaway regions.
Meanwhile, rhetoric from the Kremlin indicates that Russia is not interested in mending its strained ties with the NATO, as Medvedev made it clear that his government is ready to sever its relations with the alliance after they worsened over the conflict involving Georgia.
According to reports, Medvedev discussed the move during a meeting with Russia's envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin. "We are ready to take any decision, up to halting of relations altogether," he was quoted as saying Monday.
However, he called on the countries of the Western alliance to avert a worsening in ties so that any "difficult decision" could be avoided.
Relations between Russia and the NATO deteriorated over the Caucasus conflict. On August 19, the organization decided to take a tough stance against Russia over its reluctance to honor a cease-fire agreement that aimed at ending the fighting in the area. Russia responded the next day by announcing that it is suspending military cooperation with the alliance.
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