TBILISI—Georgia said on Wednesday that Russia's establishment of closer links with two rebel regions were against international law and amounted to legalisation of a "de facto annexation" of the provinces.
It "can be assessed by the Georgian side only as a legalisation of the de facto annexation process which has been taking place in two Georgian regions," Georgian Foreign Minister David Bakradze told Reuters in an interview.
Moscow earlier announced it would recognise businesses and organisations registered in the regions of Abhazia and South Ossetia, which threw off Georgian rule after a war in the 1990s. It did not mention recognising the two regions as independent.
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