Source: The Guardian

Russia was last night on another collision course with the west after Russian MPs voted unanimously to back independence for Georgia’s two breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The move – which requires the approval of Russia’s president, Dmitry Medvedev – gives a strong domestic legal basis for the Kremlin to take control of the areas after Russia’s invasion of Georgia this month.

Russia’s upper house, or Federation Council, voted by 130-0 to call on Medvedev to support South Ossetia and Abkhazia’s independence. The Duma passed the same motion by 447-0. Both houses are known for their slavish loyalty to the Kremlin.

The US and the EU swiftly denounced the vote. George Bush said he was “deeply concerned” by the move, and the White House said the vice-president, Dick Cheney, would visit Tbilisi next week. The EU said the breakaway regions should remain in Georgia. The German government called the move “in no way appropriate to either calming or defusing tensions”.

But there were strong signs last night that Moscow remains unmoved by the threat of western sanctions, which have been growing since Russia invaded Georgia after Georgia’s military incursion into South Ossetia this month.

The US, France, Britain and other EU countries are considering punitive measures. These include ending Nato cooperation with Moscow, freezing Russia’s application to join the World Trade Organisation, and suspending its participation in G8 summits.

…

Random Posts

• MI5: Outsourcing torture to foreign climes
• UK: Thirty-two MoD PCs went walkabout in first 131 days of 2009
• Drone to Keep Watch on U.S.-Canada Border
• 4 arrested in alleged NYC synagogue bomb plot
• U.S. Air Force Test Fires Missile From California Base