Chief of staff of the Russia’s presidential office, Sergei Naryshkin, met with incumbent South Ossetian leader, Eduard Kokoity, in Moscow on August 19.

“Issues of bilateral partnership, including in economy were discussed… During the talks a lot of attention was paid to political situation in the republic ahead of the upcoming presidential elections [on November 13],” the Kremlin said in a press release.

Naryshkin said that “the right to choose the head of the state belongs only to the South Ossetian people” and that Russia “will work with a president, which will be elected by the South Ossetian people.”

The statement was made in an apparent response to a recent article in the Russian daily, Kommersant, according to which Moscow has already picked up its favorite as South Ossetia’s next leader – the breakaway region’s emergency situations minister Anatoly Bibilov.