Moscow accused the West of heightening tension by a naval build-up in the Black Sea, and said talk of punishing Russia for recognizing the independence of two breakaway Georgian regions was the product of a “sick” and “confused” imagination.

The Group of Seven rich nations condemned Moscow’s “continued occupation of Georgia” and a group of Asian allies led by China, meeting at a regional summit, failed to follow Russia’s lead on independence for two breakaway regions of Georgia.

Belarus, Russia’s closest ex-Soviet ally, gave the clearest support, with President Alexander Lukashenko saying the Kremlin “had no other moral choice but to” recognize the Georgian regions. But he too stopped short of recognizing them himself.

The crisis flared early this month when Georgia tried to retake by force its separatist province of South Ossetia and Russia launched an overwhelming counter-attack.

Russian forces swept the Georgian army out of the rebel region and are still occupying some areas of Georgia proper. On Tuesday Moscow announced that it was recognizing South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia, as independent states.

Subscribe to The China Post and save.  Click hereSharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 800 characters max

Receive China Post promos

Respond to this email