Venezuela recognizes S.Ossetia, Abkhazia

During talks with President Dmitry Medvedev in the Kremlin, Chavez said: "I want to take the opportunity to announce that Venezuela is joining those recognizing the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia."

Chavez said Venezuela will start the relevant procedures today.

Moscow recognized the two pro-Russian regions after a brief war last August to repel Georgia's attack on South Ossetia. The move, seen partly as a response to the broad recognition of Kosovo's independence from Serbia, was condemned internationally.

Nicaragua was until recently the only other country to have followed Russia's suit. Russian media reports have said that more Latin American nations could recognize the two republics, which have maintained de-facto independence since bloody post-Soviet conflicts with Georgia in the early 1990s; Kazinform cites RIA Novosti.

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