The presidents of the Russian Federation and the Republic of South Ossetia have signed a treaty today which will dramatically increase their integration, merging part of the South Ossetian military into Russia’s, and increasing economic integration.
NATO is furious, again, claiming the treaty is in violation of international law. NATO does not recognize South Ossetian independence and insists every treaty they enter is a violation.
South Ossetia was an autonomous oblast in the Georgian Soviet Republic during the Soviet era, and declared independence in 1990 when the Soviet Union collapsed. Georgia has repeatedly, unsuccessfully, tried to conquer them.
The most recent war came in 2008, when Georgian forces attacked both South Ossetia and Russian peacekeepers, starting the brief Russo-Georgian War, in which Georgia’s military was virtually wiped out.
After the war, Russia formally recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent republics, and they have both become heavily dependent on Russian foreign aid.
Nato must desepear as the Varsaw pact did. It has become as monster whjch regenerate itself on each occasion.
Putin doesn't seem to have noticed that the Warsaw Pact has disappeared!
All this tends to confirm that Putin's goal is to exhume the Soviet Union and makes war look more and more inevitable. It also suggests that all the talk about supposed "discrimination" against Russian-speakers in Ukraine is just a huge propaganda lie aimed at justifying Putin's annexation of Ukraine piece by piece (i.e. Israeli-style).
So why didn't Putin keep Georgia after the Georgian-Russian war of 2008? A neocon pulling "facts" out of thin air as usual.
You're obviously ignorant of the history of the region, including the fact that Abkhazian civilization is as old as 'Georgian,' but has always been distinct. Ossetia was only ever divided because of a fit of spite by Stalin.
Looks like you missed Kiev Rada's MP Yuri Bereza's recent comment where he promised to "burn down Crimea, with all of its residents if needed." And then there was Kiev's Julia Timoshenko's, "We'll nuke every Russian in Ukraine."
Do you expect people to believe that Mr. Putin controls these people and what they say?
Shut up NATO you hypocrites
Time has brought major changes. While Vladimir Putin uses diplomacy in which courtesy and mutual self-respect are employed to forge constructive dialogs and alliances with independent countries, the US continues floundering about in fits of rage and anger at counties not willing to bow and scrap to it's every demand.
Nice to see Putin finally growing some balls–albeit only after having been kicked in the balls repeatedly by US/NATO. As for the Soviet Union, the people of Eastern Europe had a higher standard of living then than they have now. http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2009/10/east-o24….
Yes, those NATO warmongering fumes stink AND are a danger to our very survival..
NATO is very evil
They hate our Constitution and especially our 2nd amendment!