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Georgia accuses Russia of attempting to split the country

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Georgia's parliament on Friday called the lifting of economic sanctions by Russia from the unrecognized republic of Abkhazia an open attempt to infringe upon Georgia's territorial integrity.
TBILISI, March 14 (RIA Novosti) - Georgia's parliament on Friday called the lifting of economic sanctions by Russia from the unrecognized republic of Abkhazia an open attempt to infringe upon Georgia's territorial integrity.

On March 6, Russia lifted trade, economic, financial and transport sanctions on Abkhazia, and urged other CIS countries to follow suit.

Georgian MPs also said the session by the Russian parliament's lower house on the Georgian breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia meant that Georgia's sovereign rights were being disregarded.

"Arguments cited as initiatives to cooperate with Georgia's conflict regions are nothing less than distorting facts and are fully out of line with the current international treaties," the statement said.

Georgian MPs also said the sanctions placed restrictions on military aid, adding that Russia's move now meant that military assistance to separatist regimes will be unrestricted.

Members of Russia's lower house, the State Duma, recommended on Thursday that Moscow open 'missions' in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as in Moldova's Transdnestr.

They did not elaborate on what form these missions could take, although the mere fact that Moscow could now establish some form of diplomatic links with the three unrecognized republics points to a growing readiness to acknowledge the sovereignty of breakaway regions striving to merge with Russia.

Participants in a State Duma session on the issue of recognition of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transdnestr also said Thursday the recent acknowledgment of Kosovo's sovereignty by a number of states could complicate the resolution of frozen conflicts throughout the world.

Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on February 17. Since then the United States and 18 of the 27 EU states have recognized the Republic of Kosovo. Russia, China, Spain, Cyprus and several other countries have refused to recognize its independence, however.

In early March, reacting to what they called "the Kosovo precedent," the parliaments of Georgia's breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia asked Russia's parliament, the United Nations and other organizations to recognize their independence.

Both Abkhazia and South Ossetia were involved in bloody conflicts with Georgia after proclaiming independence following the split-up of the Soviet Union in 1991.

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