The Georgian Foreign Ministry said with its resolution, recognizing Abkhazia and South Ossetia as regions "occupied by the Russian Federation", the U.S. Senate assessed precisely the current legal and political situation on the ground.

"Passing of this resolution by the U.S. Senate represents a significant step in the U.S.-Georgia strategic and partnership relations," the Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on July 30.

"By approving unanimously the resolution supporting Georgia, the Senate has officially expressed its unwavering and unanimous support towards Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity and also recognized the Russian Federation as an occupying force and by doing so [the Senate] gave a precise legal and political assessment to the existing situation on the ground," it said.

Georgia’s ambassador to the United States, Temur Yakobashvili, said in remarks aired by the Georgian televisions on July 30, that the resolution was "a very solid and firm foundation for de-occupation of the Georgian territories.”

The Georgian authorities are actively lobbying for this type of resolution, that would refer to Abkhazia and South Ossetia as occupied regions, in Washington and other western capitals, describing the effort as part of “de-occupation policy”.

In March, 2011 when asked about this issue, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Philip H. Gordon, said that use of term "occupied" by Washington in reference to Abkhazia and South Ossetia was not meant to be a "provocation," but simply description of situation on the ground.

"We don’t know what else to call it," he said while speaking at the Global Security 2011 Forum in Bratislava on March 3.