Russia sent its foreign minister Sergei Lavrov to Georgia’s rebel Abkhazia on Sunday to show support for two separatist territories Moscow has recognised.

Lavrov was to have talks with separatist leader Sergei Bagapsh and discuss the opening of a Russian embassy in the capital, Sukhumi, in defiance of the West.

Lavrov was to travel from Abkhazia to South Ossetia, another Moscow-backed separatist region of Georgia, Russian media said.

Georgia denounced Lavrov’s visit as a farce.

“This is a farce,” Georgian Foreign Minister Ekaterine Tkeshelashvili told reporters. “Russia is trying to create the impression that these territories are independent states.”

Lavrov was the most senior Russian official to go to Abkhazia for at least 15 years and his trip came just over a month after the Kremlin sent troops and tanks into Georgia, drawing condemnation from Western governments.gulfnews

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