PUTIN BACKS DOWN ON SOUTH OSSETIA REFERENDUM

US-support for Georgia has increased in recent years.

Russia has apparently backed down on holding a referendum in the occupied territory of South Ossetia, which is still internationally recognised as part of Georgia. The referendum was to be on whether South Ossetia would become a part of Russia or not.

As reported by The Moscow Times:

The leader of Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia on Monday scrapped plans to hold a referendum on joining Russia which his predecessor had scheduled for July 17.

South Ossetia was at the center of the Russian-Georgian war in 2008 after which the Kremlin recognized the territory as an independent state and stationed military bases there.

In a decree issued Monday, the Moscow-controlled enclave's president Alan Gagloev invoked "uncertainty of the legal consequences of the issue submitted to a referendum."

The decree also stressed "the inadmissibility of a unilateral decision of a referendum on issues affecting the legitimate rights and interests of the Russian Federation."

Let's just be clear here: the sole leader of South Ossetia is Vladimir Putin and no one else. Any referendum that took place there would be meaningless, as Putin would simply rig it to get the result he wanted, even if 99% voted the other way. So, what this means is that Putin has effectively backed down. The only question is why.

It could be fear of Turkey, which would view the act of Russia annexing South Ossetia negatively. Putin is also hoping to leverage food and agricultural imports from Ukrainian ports to push Turkey into reducing sanctions on Russua.

It could also be because the outright annexation of Georgian territory could provoke the Georgian military to resume the 2008 war, with Russia's army greatly weakened and fully deployed elsewhere.

Since 2008, the Georgian military has been extensively re-equipped and may be ready for a re-match. If so, now would be the perfect moment. Yes, it looks like the Ukraine isn't the only NATO-backed state on Russia's borders.