Russian lawmakers meet on rebel Georgian regions

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian lawmakers meet on Monday to discuss pleas by Georgian separatists for Moscow to recognize their independence, a move that could stoke tensions with the West over Russia's military intervention in pro-Western Georgia.

The non-binding resolutions on South Ossetia and Abkhazia could flag Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's intentions or be designed to strengthen his hand with the West as he negotiates the status of Russian forces in its former Soviet vassal.

EU president France, which brokered a ceasefire in the conflict which has killed hundreds of people and made thousands more homeless, called a September 1 meeting of EU leaders to discuss the crisis and review the bloc's relations with Russia.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said ties with Moscow could be scaled back if its troops were not fully withdrawn.

The United States, which has said Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organisation could also suffer, on Sunday delivered 55 tonnes of aid aboard the warship USS McFaul a gesture of support for Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili that is likely to further inflame anti-West sentiment in Moscow.

Russia sent in troops on August 8 to crush Georgia's bid to retake the pro-Moscow rebel region of South Ossetia, rattling markets and shocking Western states alarmed by the Kremlin's assertive behavior in a key oil and gas transit route.

Moscow, which withdrew the bulk of its forces from Georgia's heartland on Friday, says residual troops are peacekeepers needed to avert further bloodshed and protect Georgia's separatist, pro-Moscow provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

But Georgia and the West object to the scale of the Russian-imposed buffer zone adjoining the two rebel regions, which hands Moscow pressure points on key oil, gas and trade routes through Georgia to the Black Sea.

Washington and Europe fear the continued Russian presence in Georgia will cement the country's ethnic partition and undermine Saakashvili's pro-Western government.

BARGAINING CHIP

Russia's formal recognition of the independence of South Ossetia and the Black Sea province of Abkhazia, would put it on a collision course with the West, which insists that Georgia's territorial integrity be fully respected.

Members of the Federation Council upper house and the State Duma, the lower chamber, have cut short their summer recess to discuss the issue at extraordinary sessions.

The Federation Council's website (www.council.gov.ru) said its session would start at 10 a.m. (0600 GMT) on Monday. At noon (0800 GMT), the Duma is due to discuss a similar agenda, Russian news agencies have said.

"The Federation Council is ready to recognize Abkhazia's and South Ossetia's independence, if the people of these regions wish and if there is an appropriate decision by the Russian president," the chamber's head Sergei Mironov said on Friday.

Analysts say resolutions by the parliamentary chambers, both tightly controlled by the Kremlin, could give Medvedev a formal pretext for the recognition of the regions.

On August 14 Medvedev told separatist leaders in Moscow that Russia would support a drive for self-determination by Abkhazia and South Ossetia and vowed to guarantee any such move.

However, the Kremlin could -- as he has done in the past -- ignore pleas by parliament that would exacerbate its confrontation with the West, and instead use domestic pressure as a bargaining chip in a future trade-off with the West.

Lawmakers could also adopt less radical resolutions, leaving the Kremlin to handle relations with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, having full-scale ties without formal recognition. That would mirror the way most states deal with Taiwan, which China considers as a renegade province.

Russia has so far resisted repeated calls for formal recognition by South Ossetians and Abkhazians, although Kremlin officials have hinted that the Western recognition of Serbia's breakaway region of Kosovo has created a precedent.

Moscow says its armed intervention averted a "genocide" of Ossetians by Georgia, and Russian leaders have said it is unthinkable the rebels would agree to reunite with Georgia.

Despite repeated demands for a complete Russian pullback to positions before the conflict, the West lacks leverage over a resurgent Russia whose oil and gas it sorely needs.

(Editing by Jon Boyle and Angus MacSwan)