Last Friday, the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, proposed that the president and the government consider the issue of whether to recognize the independence of the Georgian breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Shortly after Kosovo declared its independence on February 17, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, along with Moldova's Transdnestr, asked Russia's parliament, the United Nations and other organizations to recognize their independence.
"The statement by Russia's State Duma causes particular dissatisfaction as it appeals to the president and the government to consider the expediency of recognizing Abkhazia and South Ossetia's independence," the Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry also said that Russia's statement contradicted all existing agreements and proved that "Russia has lost the political, legal and moral right to seek the role of a neutral and unbiased intermediary in the issue of resolution of conflicts."
Tbilisi is also unhappy, the statement said, with Russia's intention to build up its peacekeeping mission in the conflict zones.
The State Duma's statement called for the strengthening of the peacekeeping force in the conflict zones between Georgia and its breakaway territories, while maintaining its current format, as well as considering other peace and security measures in the region.
"The Georgian Foreign Ministry states that any step without the involvement of the Georgian authorities concerning deployed peacekeeping forces, their quantity, armament, mandate, terms of presence, configuration or any changes of parameters, will be seen as an aggressive act aimed against Georgia with all the resulting consequences," the statement said.
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.
Peacekeeping in the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict zone is currently carried out by collective CIS forces staffed with Russian service personnel. The Georgian-South Ossetian conflict area is controlled by joint forces also including Russian peacekeepers.
Russian lawmakers have so far refused to consider the recognition of Moldova's breakaway region of Transdnestr, saying that there is a good chance the dispute can be resolved.
