Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday Russia would not necessarily
recognise two Moscow-backed rebel regions of
neighbouring Georgia if the Serbian province of Kosovo declares
independence.
‘The Russian leadership has never said that after the recognition of independence in Kosovo we would immediately
recognise the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia,’ Lavrov told journalists.
Kosovo says it is ready to declare independence even without agreement from Serbia and several Western governments have indicated they are ready to back this.
However, Moscow warns that the precedent would then encourage separatism elsewhere, particularly in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
The warning has raised fears in Georgia, a Western ally, that Russia is preparing to recognise the rebel regions, which already receive substantial Russian financial and political backing.
Lavrov repeated Moscow’s position that Kosovan independence would set a ‘precedent’ for some 200 other separatist territories around the world.
However, he appeared to back peddle on previous statements by Russian officials that strongly linked Kosovo to Abkhazia and South Ossetia.