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R/€ 
R/£ Roulette as US 'reviews Russia relations'
Moscow is ready to break with Nato over South Ossetia, warns angry MedvedevAugust 26, 2008 Edition 2
Alexander Osipovich
A vote by Russia's parliament to recognise two breakaway Georgian regions as independent nations has triggered an outbreak of diplomatic roulette, as Washington said it would review its "entire relationship" with Moscow.
The White House warned Moscow yesterday it could not unilaterally decide the fate of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, while Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Moscow was ready to break with Nato.
Tensions were underscored by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's announcement that Russia would withdraw from some WTO trade accords, as the US said Vice-President Dick Cheney would visit Georgia.
There was a flurry of other activity, as the European Union prepared for a special summit set for next Monday, France expressed concern at reports of looting and intimidation in South Ossetia, while a Russian warship left Sevastopol yesterday.
With Russian troops still deep in Georgia, both Houses of the Russian parliament passed motions urging Medvedev to recognise the independence of South Ossetia - where the conflict began this month - and Abkhazia.
The pair are internationally recognised as part of Georgia, where Russian troops rolled in on August 8 to fight off a Georgian offensive to retake South Ossetia.
Addressing the Federation Council Upper House, South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity said Russia had saved his region from "genocide".
He asserted there was more political and legal legitimacy to recognising South Ossetia's independence than there had been for Kosovo, the Serbian province which broke free with EU and US backing earlier this year.
Abkhaz leader Sergei Bagapsh said: "Neither Abkhazia nor South Ossetia will ever again live in one state with Georgia."
The final decision rests with Medvedev, but he has already signalled his support, and yesterday he mentioned the South Ossetia case when he said a dispute with Moldova over the Transdniestr region could be settled.
Medvedev told Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin the dispute over Transdniestr, which lies on Moldova's eastern edge, and where there are Russian troops, should be viewed in the context of the Georgia conflict.
Events in South Ossetia showed "how dangerous such so-called frozen conflicts can be, given that the Georgian leadership, as they say, went crazy", Medvedev said, according to Interfax.
Transdniestr fought a brief independence war after the Soviet Union's collapse, but is not internationally recognised.
"We're reviewing our entire relationship with Russia, both for the medium term and the long term," said spokesman Tony Fratto, who added there was "no question that Russia has not lived up to the ceasefire agreement".
"The status of those two regions in Georgia is not a matter for any one country to decide. They're a matter for the international community, through the mechanisms at the United Nations," he added.
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said Russia was making "an attempt to change Europe's borders by force", in an interview with French newspaper Liberation.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the vote was "worrying", and Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini called on him to be "particularly prudent" in his decision.
Poland meanwhile hoped to convince the EU to take a hard line on Russia at a special summit on September 1, its prime minister said yesterday.
"I spoke with Chancellor Merkel this morning to make the European position uniform, harder and categorical concerning Russia in the context of the crisis in the Caucasus," Premier Donald Tusktold reporters.
A US destroyer, the USS McFaul, carrying relief supplies, arrived at the Georgian Black Sea port of Batumi on Sunday, and in a new show of US support, the White House said Cheney would visit Georgia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan next week.
But later, a Russian warship - equipped with P-500 Bazaltsea-based anti-ship missiles and an air defence system - left Sevastopol.
Meanwhile, security troops in Georgia's separatist republic of South Ossetia detained a group of Georgian policemen, the separatist Interior minister said.
Medvedev said Russia was prepared for a full break in relations with Nato, but urged the Western alliance to avert a rupture. - Sapa-AFP
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