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Venezuela's Chavez recognizes Georgian rebel regions
Thu Sep 10, 2009 11:24am EDT
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BARVIKHA, Russia (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Thursday recognized the pro-Russian rebel regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states, a rare boost to the Kremlin's campaign for their international acceptance.
President Dmitry Medvedev thanked Chavez, who is visiting Moscow, for his support. Shortly afterwards, state news agency RIA reported that Russia had agreed to supply tanks and other weapons sought by Venezuela.
Until Chavez's decision, only Nicaragua had followed the Kremlin's August 2008 decision to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as sovereign states following a brief war with Georgia over South Ossetia.
The rest of the world views the two regions, which threw off Georgian rule in the early 1990s and have run their own affairs since, as an integral part of Georgia. The issue has become a key sticking point in relations between the West and Russia.
"Venezuela from today is joining in the recognition of the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia," Chavez told Medvedev through a translator at the Russian president's official residence at Barvikha, outside Moscow.
Caracas would start the process of establishing diplomatic relations with them soon, he said.
"Thank you, Hugo", said Medvedev. "We are not indifferent to the fate of these two states. I would like to thank you for taking such a decision."
RIA later quoted Medvedev as saying that "Russia will supply Venezuela those types of weapons which Venezuela asks us for. We will supply tanks, we have good tanks."
The agency later quoted a military source as saying Venezuela would buy 100 tanks.
Chavez has said Venezuela wants to beef up its weaponry to resist what he terms U.S. imperialism in Latin America. Tension has also been rising with Caracas's historic rival Colombia, a close U.S. ally.
The recognition is especially controversial in the case of South Ossetia because the small region has a population in the low tens of thousands and can only survive on Russian aid.
Generous Kremlin military and financial support for Abkhazia and South Ossetia has soured relations with Georgia and provoked Western condemnation. Tbilisi argues that Moscow's actions amount to a de facto annexation of the territories.
Moscow's allies in the former Soviet Union, fearful of setting precedents which could threaten their own sovereignty, have so far resisted pressure to recognize the rebel regions, making Venezuela's decision something of a breakthrough for Kremlin diplomacy.
"Russia has been trying for a year to provide these puppet regimes with legitimacy," Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Nalbandov told Reuters.
"It should be clear to the Russian side that such actions won't add legitimacy to these puppet regimes," he said.
ARMS, ENERGY DEALS Continued...
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