Russia lawmakers to meet on Georgia rebel regions
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian lawmakers will hold an extraordinary session next week to urge the Kremlin to recognize the independence of Georgia's pro-Moscow breakaway regions, sources and media said on Wednesday.
Any resolutions issued by Russia's two houses of parliament, both due to convene on August 25 to discuss the future of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, are not legally binding for the Kremlin.
But upper house speaker Sergei Mironov, who is spearheading the move, has in the past publicly tested proposals on behalf of the Kremlin to gauge public approval.
A close ally of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Mironov told Ekho Moskvy radio the upper house would consider their recognition "if it is the will of the people of these republics and the decision of the President of Russia."
A source in the State Duma lower house told Reuters that chamber would also meet next Monday to debate the matter.
South Ossetia and Abkhazia, recognized internationally as part of Georgia, have stepped up their push for independence since Russian troops drove out Georgian forces that had briefly taken control of pockets of South Ossetia.
While enjoying Moscow's financial and military support, they have yet to obtain explicit guarantees from the Kremlin it would recognize their independence.
Stepping up the pressure, Abkhazia's self-styled parliament on Wednesday issued a fresh plea for Russian recognition of its independence and called for the establishment of a permanent Russian military base in the region.
In the debate preceding the unanimous vote, the rebel lawmakers said relations with Georgia had been poor since 1920 and the recent conflict in South Ossetia had shown good relations could not be achieved with Georgia.
The Black Sea region avoided the heavy fighting seen in South Ossetia but as the conflict unfolded its rebels took control of the strategically vital Kodori gorge -- the only part of its territory that Georgian forces had controlled.
Nearly half of Russians want South Ossetia to become part of Russia, according to an August 12 poll by the independent Levada centre.
(Reporting by Conor Sweeney; Editing by Mike Collett-White)
