Putin calls for open border with South Ossetia

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called for an open border with Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia yesterday while Moscow's mayor went further, saying it was already de facto in Russia, Interfax news agency reported.

Russia recognised both South Ossetia and the second Georgian separatist region of Abkhazia as independent countries following its brief August conflict with Tbilisi, but so far only Nicaragua has followed Moscow's lead.

"Today it will be sufficient if we assist in South Ossetia's economic reconstruction and actually remove the border between Russia and that republic," Interfax quoted Mr Putin as saying.

South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity fuelled speculation that the region may eventually become part of Russia in comments he made to visiting Western academics earlier this month, though he quickly revoked them.

Mr Putin said the focus should be on making it easy for people in the region to travel freely, without the formalities of a state border, Interfax quoted him as saying.

Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, who has already made a series of outspoken comments raising the question of whether a section of Ukraine should be returned to Russia, said South Ossetia would eventually be reunited with North Ossetia.

"De facto entry has already taken place, and the authorities are yet to formalise it in full," Mr Luzhkov was quoted by Interfax as saying.

"As regards the de jure process, we will probably have to be patient... No people can live in a divided state, including the Ossetians, who were artificially separated from each other," Interfax quoted him as saying yesterday.

Nato has demanded Russia should retract its recognition of the breakaway regions while Washington and Brussels both accused Moscow of a disproportionate use of force during its August conflict with Georgia.