Russia’s parliament has backed a motion urging the president to recognise the independence of Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Both houses voted unanimously in favour of the non-binding motion, which analysts say could help President Dmitry Medvedev in talks with the West.

The US said any move to recognise independence of the two regions would be contrary to international law.

Responding to the parliamentary vote, the US state department said recognition of the two provinces’ independence would be “a violation of Georgian territorial integrity” and “inconsistent with international law”.

President George W Bush said he was deeply concerned, adding: “I call on Russia’s leadership to meet its commitments and not recognise these separatist regions.”

In an interview in his office that stretched until nearly 2 a.m., Mr. Saakashvili said that Georgia had gained allies in the world and would embark upon a campaign of rebuilding.

He predicted continued American support and said that he spoke by phone with the presumptive Republican nominee for president, Senator John McCain, as often as twice a day, and that he was in regular contact with Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., who has been picked to run for vice president on the Democratic ticket.

He also said that the Bush administration had not communicated disappointment or signaled a decline in its support for him since he gave the order on Aug. 7 to attack Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital.

And now Cindy McCain has been dispatched by the McCain campaign to Georgia for the media coverage….that is wrong…she is going on a humanitarian mission…wink…wink.