TSKHINVALI, August 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and South Ossetia will on Tuesday sign an agreement on friendship and cooperation, which will stipulate the deployment of a Russian military base in the republic, a South Ossetian official said Friday.

Znaur Gassiyev, the chairman of the South Ossetian parliament, said President Eduard Kokoity gave orders to lawmakers to prepare all the necessary documents for the signing of the agreement.

Georgia attacked South Ossetia on August 8 in an attempt to regain control over the separatist republic, which split from Tbilisi in the early 1990s. Most people living in South Ossetia have Russian citizenship and Moscow subsequently launched an operation to "force Georgia to accept peace." The operation was concluded on August 12.

Russia's president signed decrees Tuesday recognizing South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states and called on other countries to follow suit, although none has.