From an Interview with the author and Russia expert Professor Nicolai N. Petro by RIA Novosti
11 Aug 09
--Do you think there is a potential for the U.S. and other Western countries to accept the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia?
History suggests that the only thing required to persuade the international community on recognition is determined perseverance in the face of adversity. Russias diplomatic recognition is a morale booster, but not decisive. If the Abkhazians and the Ossetians continue to insist on international recognition of their identity as a people and a nation, then past experience suggests that, sooner or later, the international community will have to yield to this reality.
--What is your take on what people in the US think of the conflict and Russias part in it one year on?
Western media coverage has definitely become more balanced since last November, when it was revealed that the two senior Western military officers stationed in Georgia by the OSCE, former British Army captain Ryan Grist and former RAF wing commander Stephen Young, both confirmed that Russian version of eventsthat Georgia had conducted an indiscriminate and unprovoked Georgian attack on the South Ossetian capital of Tsinkhval.
--What is your perception of the grounds for Russia to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia?
Here, again, we have two principles of international law that are in direct conflict. One is that the territorial integrity of a state should be sacrosanct; the other is the right of people to self-determination.... After the attack of August 2008, and the Saakashvilis vows to continue his campaign to reconquer Abkhazia and South Ossetia by any means at his disposal, Russia reluctantly came to the conclusion (on August 26 President Medvedev described it as choosing the lesser evil) that the only way to guarantee the survival of the Abkhazian and Ossetian populations on their own lands was to sign a military defense treaty with them. Recognition of their independence became a prerequisite, since such a treaty can only be signed with a sovereign state. Western recognition of Kosovos independence without Serbias approval, which took place in February 2008, merely established a convenient precedent for Russias actions.
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20090811/155780949.html