US concerned by Georgian de facto regions’ involvement in Russian Duma elections

The US Department of State has condemned the opening of polling stations in Georgia’s Russian occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions for the recent Duma elections in Russia. 

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>The United States regrets Russia’s repressive actions that undermined the freeness, fairness, and credibility of its Duma elections, and we condemn Russia’s organization of polling stations on the territories of Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine without their consent. <a href=”https://t.co/NRkNRvsE64″>https://t.co/NRkNRvsE64</a></p>&mdash; Ned Price (@StateDeptSpox) <a href=”https://twitter.com/StateDeptSpox/status/1441115532137140237?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>September 23, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

About 25,000 individuals from the regions voted in the elections which have been described as ‘unfair’ by the international community. 

The Georgian Foreign Ministry said that through the involvement of the Georgian de facto regions in the elections Russia once again violated international law. 

The Georgian Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions were recognised as independent states by Russia after the Russia-Georgia 2008 war. 

The international community, except Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru and Syria, says that the regions are occupied by Russia and call on the country to withdraw its troops from historic Georgian lands.