US Senate: Russia continues to illegally occupy Georgian territory

In a bipartisan US Senate resolution supporting the territorial integrity of Ukraine and condemning recent Russian military aggression, Senators Dick Durbin and Dan Coats mention Georgia as another example of Russian aggression.

The resolution states, under President Vladimir Putin, the Russian Federation had a history of bullying neighbouring countries in an attempt to rebuild Russian dominance on its borders, often under the guise of protecting Russian citizens. 

In this sense, the resolution named forcibly seizing the South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions of the independent Republic of Georgia in 2008 by Russia as an example of this.

"The Russian Federation continues to illegally occupy South Ossetia and Abkhazia and has erected fences along administrative boundary lines and permanent military bases in violation of the cease fire agreement negotiated with the European Union,” reads the resolution.

Because of this and other reasons, the Durbin-Coats resolution condemns "the unprovoked and illegal Russian military seizure” of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and demanded the immediate withdrawal of Russian forces, except as specifically allowed for by treaty. 

The resolution also demands the immediate release of besieged Ukrainian security forces in Crimea, "who have shown remarkable restraint under threat.

The document warned that failure to do so, or any additional military action against other areas of Ukraine would lead to "swift and significant consequences in the Russian Federation’s relations with the United States and those nations who share their views”.

The resolution was supported by Senators Robert Menendez and Bob Corker, as well as the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and 27 other senators.