Russia signs pacts with South Ossetia and Abkhazia

[Bangkoktraveler]

President Dmitri Medvedev signed treaties with the breakaway enclaves South Ossetia and Abkhazia on Wednesday that committed Moscow to defend them from any Georgian attack.

 

The treaties formalize military, diplomatic and economic cooperation between Moscow and the separatist regions, which Russia recognized as independent states after its brief war with Georgia last month.

 

In Tbilisi, a senior Georgian diplomat said that the treaties were a "masquerade" and that Russia had annexed sovereign Georgian territory.

 

Russia drew international condemnation after it sent its troops into Georgia last month and recognized the regions, but it said it had a moral duty to act to defend them from what it called a genocide by Georgia's military in South Ossetia.

 

"The documents we have signed envisage that our countries will jointly undertake the necessary measures for counteracting threats to peace," Medvedev said after a lavish signing ceremony in the Kremlin.

 

"We will show each other all necessary support, including military support," he said, adding that "a repeat of the Georgian aggression" would lead to "a catastrophe on a regional scale, so no one should be in doubt that we will not allow new military adventures."

 

Western states have angered Russia by backing Georgia over the conflict.

 

Russia issued an unusually harsh condemnation Wednesday of the NATO chief's visit to Georgia, saying it showed a Cold War mentality and would further destabilize the region.

 

NATO's support for Georgia after the war with Russia can only be seen as "encouraging Tbilisi to engage in new reckless ventures," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

 

NATO's secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, and envoys from all 26 member countries were in Georgia this week. The former Soviet republic is eager to join the Western military alliance, a step Russia strongly opposes.

 

Giga Bokeria, Georgia's deputy foreign minister, responded Wednesday to Moscow's formal recognition: "As we were saying before, this is an unconcealed annexation of these territories by Russia. The rest is just a masquerade. It's a violation of Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

 

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