MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia will continue to provide help to South Ossetia in ensuring its national security, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his congratulatory message to his South Ossetian counterpart on occasion of the 25th anniversary of the republic’s independence.
"The Russian president has confirmed Russia's readiness to continue to provide assistance to South Ossetia in addressing social and economic issues and guarantying national security," the statement on the Kremlin website read.
South Ossetia declared independence from Georgia back in the 1990s.
Moscow recognized South Ossetia, alongside Abkhazia, another Georgian breakaway region, as an independent state in August 2008 following an armed conflict with Tbilisi.
The war severed diplomatic relations between Russia and Georgia and prompted Tbilisi to declare the partially recognized states of South Ossetia and Abkhazia "occupied" Georgian territories.
