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MOSCOW: Russia tightened control on Tuesday over the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, establishing diplomatic relations and announcing 7,600 troops would be based there long-term.
The opening of ties drew a furious response in the Georgian capital Tbilisi where Deputy Foreign Minister Giga Bokeria described it as "yet another step in the annexation of Georgia's sovereign territories."
It came the day after a European Union delegation led by French President Nicolas Sarkozy travelled to Moscow then Tbilisi to shore up the fragile ceasefire that ended last month's five-day war.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev promised on Monday to withdraw from the rest of Georgia but is maintaining a vice-like grip on the Moscow-backed separatist regions at the centre of the conflict.
Georgia's interior ministry said on Tuesday that Russian troops had withdrawn from one Georgian village near Abkhazia.
Russia's move to establish ties with the breakaway capitals of Tskhinvali and Sukhumi came exactly a fortnight after it enraged the West by recognising South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.
"We exchanged notes, which represent an agreement to establish diplomatic relations between Russia and Abkhazia, and Russia and South Ossetia," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
The diplomatic move was backed up by a military promise to defend the territories with 7,600 Russian soldiers.
We have "already agreed on the numbers, around 3,800 in each republic," Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov told Medvedev in a televised meeting.
"I hope that at least this will stop the Georgian military regime from carrying out their idiotic acts," Medvedev replied.
Russian tanks and troops surged into Georgia - a strategic corridor for Caspian Sea oil and gas exports that aspires for NATO membership - on August 8 to rebuff a Georgian offensive to regain control of South Ossetia from Moscow-backed separatists.
Russia argues that it repelled Georgian troops to protect thousands of people to whom it had granted Russian citizenship since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
Hundreds of people on both sides are estimated to have been killed in the conflict. Tens of thousands fled their homes.
Lavrov said on Tuesday that Russian troops would remain in the Georgian territories for "a long time."
He said a deal had been reached with the leaders of the rebel regions, Sergei Bagapsh of Abkhazia and Eduard Kokoity of South Ossetia, spelling out how Russia planned to defend them from Georgia.
The agreement "directly mentions the commitments we have made to each other in terms of the location of military objects, including, of course, military bases," Lavrov said.
Such accords on diplomatic and military ties exasperate Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili who made gaining control of Abkhazia and South Ossetia a central plank of his presidency.
After launching his ill-fated assault on the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali on August 7 and then being routed by Russia's overwhelming military superiority in a matter of five days, the pro-Western leader has been slammed by some sympathisers for taking a massive gamble.
"We must continue to implement the European solution to reach a definitive solution respecting Georgia's territorial integrity and the principle of justice for our country and for our region," he said in Tbilisi early Tuesday alongside the EU delegation.
While Sarkozy and much of Europe has appeared content to concentrate on pressuring Russia to withdraw troops from Georgia, Washington has taken a far tougher line, accusing Moscow of seeking to redraw the map.
US Vice President Dick Cheney, who last week toured ex-Soviet US allies including Georgia, accused Russia on Tuesday of directly "violating" the Georgian border.
"The international community is united in deploring Russia's military action and in condemning its unilateral efforts to alter by force of arms Georgia's internationally recognised boundaries," he said.
International talks on security and stability in South Ossetia and Abkhazia are to start in Geneva on October 15 but a framework for the discussions and who will attend is not yet clear.
Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin on Tuesday said he was submitting a draft resolution in the Security Council calling for an arms embargo against Georgia.
The Pentagon, meanwhile, said it was sending a team to Georgia this week to assess requirements to rebuild its military devastated by the Russian onslaught. - AFP/de
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