Nicaragua to fix ties with S.Ossetia, Abkhazia at later date

Nicaragua to fix ties with S.Ossetia, Abkhazia at later date (NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW - November 2, 2008: Nicaragua, which joined Russia in recognizing South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states, will have contact with the republics via Russia and later establish direct diplomatic relations, the foreign minister said. Nicaragua is the only country other than Russia to have recognized the Georgian separatist republics. Russia recognized them on August 26, two weeks after its five-day war with Georgia that followed Tbilisi's attack on South Ossetia. Foreign Minister Samuel Santos Lopez told his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow: "The decision to recognize these two republics was just and appropriate. They need time for self-organization, and when the moment is right we will agree on the conditions or opportunities for establishing direct diplomatic ties." Lavrov expressed his thanks to Nicaragua for the country's recognition of the two republics, calling it "a step aimed at supporting justice in international affairs, the rights of peoples to their development, and activities to block attempts to solve conflicts by force." Western nations have strongly criticized Russia for its "disproportionate" response to Georgia's attack and the subsequent recognition the republics. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who led a Soviet-backed government that battled U.S.-supported Contra rebels in the late 1980s, has sharply criticized the West for attempting to surround Russia and investing millions of dollars through NATO to "build a military fence against Russia."