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Putin Slams U.S. on Rebel Regions’ Birthday
27 August 2009By Anatoly Medetsky / The Moscow Times



Yuri Ivaschenko / AP
Sukhumi residents marking the first anniversary of Russia’s recognition of Abkhazia’s independence Wednesday.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Wednesday marked the first anniversary of Russia’s recognition of the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia from Georgia by saying more governments will eventually defy U.S. “pressure” and establish diplomatic ties with the tiny separatist regions.

In an event timed to the anniversary, Gazprom opened a pipeline snaking through high mountain ridges to feed gas to South Ossetia, which lifted the region’s dependence on deliveries through Georgia proper.

Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia after a brief war with Georgia last August that began when Georgian troops attempted to retake South Ossetia. None of Russia’s allies have followed suit, and Nicaragua is the only other country to recognize the regions’ independence.

Putin attributed the lack of progress to U.S. influence over the world.

“What is happening now … attests to one thing: Not many members of the international community use their sovereignty in the full sense of the word,” Putin said at a news conference. “All of them, being under pressure from one superpower, the United States, are executing its political will without penetrating — and not wishing to penetrate — the gist of the events.”

But things will change with time, he said, speaking with South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity at his side after they emerged from talks.

“I am sure that the situation will gradually change because no one wants to be a vassal,” Putin said. “Cold War-era thinking in terms of blocs will gradually dissolve in the reality of modern times.”

The statement drew skepticism from some Western analysts.

“I shouldn’t laugh, but it’s highly unlikely,” said James Nixey, a Russia and Eurasia research fellow at Britain’s Chatham House, referring to the chances of broader international recognition. “If Putin can’t convince states close to Russia … it’s a bit of a bluff.”

Putin made a point of saying Wednesday that Russia had left the issue up to its allies from the very beginning.

“We never pushed or asked anyone to recognize the independence of these two republics,” he said. “I want to stress this: We never asked anyone.”

After the talks with Kokoity, Putin said Russia, despite the global economic debacle, would not withdraw any of the funding that it had promised to South Ossetia to fill its budget and rebuild its post-war economy. Russia sent 2.8 billion rubles ($89 million) to the region’s budget this year. It set aside another 8.5 billion rubles for the reconstruction of schools, hospitals and roads this year, of which 3.5 billion rubles has been spent so far, Putin said. Russia is ready to consider more subsidies if necessary, he said.

In another sort of aid, Gazprom built a pipeline that will carry a modest 250 million cubic meters of gas to South Ossetia every year at such a height — at one point reaching 3,148 meters above sea level — that Kokoity said it belonged in the Guinness World Records. Gazprom warned that the pipeline could rupture at times because it runs through avalanche-prone areas.

Kokoity said South Ossetia was “immeasurably” thankful to Moscow and stressed that it aimed to stay independent of Russia, responding to what he described as “false rumors” to the contrary from the West.

Andrew Wood, the British ambassador to Russia from 1995 to 2000, said Russia and South Ossetia might not be one country but their leaders are now in many ways more dependent on each other than a year ago.

“It is difficult to see how that may change in such a way that South Ossetia can become a genuinely independent and widely recognized entity contributing to a more stable Caucasus,” he said.

Angela Stent, director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies at Georgetown University, agreed that the region would remain largely under Russia’s political and economic reign in the foreseeable future, saying it will enjoy “little room to maneuver.”

Abkhaz leader Sergei Bagapsh also expressed gratitude to Russia on Wednesday but stayed home for the celebrations.

Nixey said Abkhazia was a more viable state and required less attention from Moscow in comparison with the more economically ruined and politically unaccomplished South Ossetia.

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Russian Coast Guard to protect Abkhasia waters
Russian Coast Guard will protect ships in Abkhasian territorial waters from Georgian border guards. 23 ships were detained there in 2009 by Georgia. From their side, Georgian authorities claimed that any active deal by Russian guards will be nothing else but piracy.

In Russian - http://lenta.ru/news/2009/08/28/patrol/

Russia to help guard Abkhazia's territorial waters

MOSCOW, August 28 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Federal Security Service's coast guards will work with Abkhazia's border service to protect ships passing through Abkhazia's territorial waters from Georgian forces, the FSB border service said Friday.

Lt. Gen. Yevgeny Inchin, deputy head of the border service, told RIA Novosti that measures to ensure protection from Georgia must also be carried out as part of preparations for the 2014 Olympic Games to be held in the Russian resort of Sochi, near Abkhazia.

Georgia says Abkhazia is part of its territory and considers the delivery of cargo to the republic by sea without Tbilisi's permission to be illegal. Georgia's coast guards have detained 23 ships in Abkhazia's waters since early 2009.

"At sea they behave very aggressively. Entry of ships under flags of third countries into Abkhazia's territorial waters serves as grounds for the Georgian side to indulge in various actions against them," Inchin said.

Asked whether Russia's coast guards will stop Georgia from detaining ships going to and from Abkhazia, Inchin said his service has special boats to fulfill this task. "Believe me, they will do this effectively and productively, as the 'Sochi factor' with the upcoming Olympic Games is now a decisive one," he said.

Georgia's state minister on reintegration, Temur Yakobashvili, told RIA Novosti on Friday that Tbilisi will consider Russian coast guard operations in Abkhaz waters as piracy.

"Along with illegal activity on Abkhaz territory, Russia now wants to become a pirate," he said.

Russia recognized Abkhazia as an independent state last August after a five-day war with Georgia over breakaway South Ossetia, which Moscow also recognized as independent.

Russia has maintained peacekeepers in the republics since the bloody post-Soviet conflicts in the early 1990s, when the republics broke away from Georgia. It deployed more troops there after the war.

Nicaragua has been the only other country to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The West condemned Russia's "excessive" use of force against the Caucasus state and recognition of the territories, while Moscow accused Western powers of supporting Georgian aggression.