Russia recognises South Ossetia and Abkhazia

Russia has defied pressure from America and the West, and has recognised the independence of Georgia’s two breakaway regions. President Dimitry Medvedev said he had signed decrees accepting Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states, and urged all other nations to do the same.

The two regions unilaterally declared independence in the 1990s, but no country recognised them. Now, with Moscow’s support, they may have achieved their goal.

Medvedev’s decision follows a vote in the Russian parliament yesterday, which backed independence and urged the Kremlin to make it official.

Georgia said Russia’s recognition of independence was “unconcealed annexation” of its territory.