Kremlin urged to recognize rebels

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Russian lawmakers on Monday urged the Kremlin to recognize the independence of two separatist Georgian regions, heightening tensions with Georgia where the government said hundreds of Russian soldiers remained at checkpoints.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev did not immediately respond to the unanimous votes in both houses of Russia’s parliament, but he has said Moscow would support whatever choice the people of Abkhazia and South Ossetia make about their future status.

Western countries warned Moscow against recognizing the breakaway regions of Georgia, an allied nation pressing for NATO membership. But Medvedev signaled the criticism was of little concern to the Kremlin.

NATO needs Russia more than Russia needs NATO, Medvedev said, and it would be “nothing frightening” if the Western alliance were to sever all ties.

NATO has suspended operations of the NATO-Russia Council over the Georgia crisis, which has broadened Europe’s post-Cold War fault lines.

“We don’t need an illusion of partnership, when they surround us by bases from all sides, they drag more and more states into the North Atlantic bloc and they tell us, ‘Don’t worry, everything’s fine’ — of course we don’t like that,’” Medvedev said.

Russian tanks and troops poured into South Ossetia on Aug. 8 after Georgia launched a barrage against the breakaway region’s capital then drove deep into Georgia proper.

The Russian forces pulled back Friday in what Moscow claims is fulfillment of a European Union-brokered cease-fire. However, Georgia and its Western allies say Russia has violated the cease-fire’s call to pull back to prewar positions because it has set up posts adjacent to South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Georgian Security Council head Alexander Lomaia told The Associated Press on Monday that Russia has set up at least 14 positions in the security zones, apparently manned by hundreds of troops. “It’s difficult to count them, but they say they are deploying at least 20 at each checkpoint and two or three heavy armored vehicles,” he said.

Although Georgia bitterly opposes the security zones, the country’s small military is unlikely to be able to push out the Russian soldiers. Russia’s huge armed forces quickly overwhelmed Georgia’s, and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has been accused of starting a war that Georgia had no hope of winning.

Lomaia said Georgia will seek to force the Russians out by using “the force of law, not the law of force.”

“We will focus on a concentrated international effort to help Georgia to get rid of the Russian forces,” he said.

U.S. Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said Russia is “still failing to live up to and honor” the cease-fire accord. “There continues to be a large presence of Russian forces in Georgia,” he said.

The European Union declared that South Ossetia and Abkhazia must remain in Georgia, and Germany said the Russian parliament votes were “in no way appropriate to either calming or defusing” tensions.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has called a meeting of EU leaders Sept. 1 to discuss aid to Georgia and relations with Russia. The French foreign minister said the EU was not considering sanctions against Moscow.