Medvedev signs decree on recognition of South Ossetia, Abkhazia independence

Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian Federation’s President signed a decree on recognizing Georgia’s two separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.

“I have signed decrees on the recognition by the Russian Federation of the independence of South Ossetia and the independence of Abkhazia,” Medvedev said in a televised announcement earlier this afternoon. He made the statement following the Security Council session held in the Russian seaside resort of Sochi.

On August 25, both houses of parliament in Moscow voted overwhelmingly to recognize the separatist republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.