The fact that Russia “has found” only two other countries – Nicaragua and Venezuela – to recognize Georgia’s breakaway regions “underscores how isolated that view is,” U.S. State Department spokesman, Philip J. Crowley, told reporters on September 10.

Asked about the Venezuelan President’s statement that his country would recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Crowley also said: “We continue to believe, as do the vast majority of countries around the world, that South Ossetia and Abkhazia are part of Georgia, and that the solution is not recognizing their independence, but first stabilize the situation and then facilitating their reintegration into recognized Georgia.”