Russia will keep a total of 7,600 troops in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Anatoly Serdyukov, the Russian defense minister, said at a meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev on September 9.

He said that 3,800 Russian servicemen would be deployed in each of the regions.

“An agreement has been reached with the leaderships of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on the number and structure of forces, as well as on their location,” Serdyukov said.

In South Ossetia, Russian troops will be deployed in Java and Tskhinvali, and in Abkhazia they will “temporarily be based at the current location of the Russian peacekeepers.”

Meanwhile, Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said on September 9 that Moscow had established diplomatic relations with Tskhinvali and Sokhumi.

He also told journalists after meeting with the foreign ministers from breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Murat Jioev and Sergey Shamba, respectively, in Moscow that agreements on “friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance” between Russia and Abkhazia and Russia and South Ossetia had already been “prepared for signing at the highest level.”

Lavrov pointed out that the agreements also envisage military assistance, according to Interfax.

“It is envisaged that each of the parties to the agreement would provide the other party with the right to construct, use and develop military infrastructure and military installations,” Lavrov said.

Cooperation in border protection is also envisaged in the agreement, he continued.

“Among the documents, which we prioritize, is an agreement on cooperation in the protection of state borders, customs service, and the fight against crime, terrorism, and illegal drug trafficking,” Lavrov added.

In late August, Russian news agencies reported that agreements on military cooperation between Russia and Abkhazia and Russia and South Ossetia were under preparation, envisaging installing two military bases in Abkhazia and one in South Ossetia.

The plan, according to those reports, was to deploy Russian troops at bases in Gudauta and Ochamchire in Abkhazia. Georgia has long claimed that the Gudauta military base was in fact never closed down, with the Russian military continuing to use the infrastructure there. As far as Ochamchire is concerned, there is a port in this district of the breakaway region.

Reports also said last month that a Russian military base was planned for Java. The Georgian authorities claim that the Russian side started construction of military infrastructure in this South Ossetian stronghold long before the invasion of Georgia.