By DPA,
Moscow : Russia’s upper house of parliament voted unanimously to recognize Georgia’s rebel regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia Monday.
After an emergency meeting of the house, lawmakers issued a statement to President Dmitry Medvedev urging recognition of the two provinces that are ethnically separate from Georgia.
The statement said Georgia’s “refusal to sign an agreement on non-use of force and its aggressive actions in the beginning of August which result in the death of thousand civilians of South Ossetians has aggravated the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict” and added that Tbilisi has lost its right to claim authority over south Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The Kremlin will have the final say on the decision to recognize independence of the two provinces.