Dmitry Medvedev appointed Elbrus Kargiyev, former minister counselor to Turkey, as ambassador to South Ossetia, and Semyon Grigoryev, who formerly served as ambassador to Afghanistan and held diplomatic posts in the Mideast, as head of the diplomatic mission in Abkhazia.
"You will be beginning your work in a relatively difficult period - these are young countries, where many things have to be done," Medvedev told the new envoys.
Russia recognized the two breakaway republics as independent states on August 26, two weeks after a brief war with Georgia that began when Georgian forces attacked South Ossetia in a bid to bring it back under central control. So far, only Nicaragua has followed suit.
On Thursday Georgia's parliament adopted an appeal to friendly parliaments and international organizations to force Russia to withdraw its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent republics.
