By Conor Sweeney and Oleg Shchedrov
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia announced plans on Tuesday tostation about 7,600 troops in Georgia's separatist regions,more than twice the number based there before last month's warand a level likely to alarm the West.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said troops wouldstay in South Ossetia and Abkhazia for a long time to preventany "repeat of Georgian aggression".
Moscow's intervention in Georgia last month, in which itsforces crushed an attempt by Tbilisi to retake South Ossetia,drew widespread international condemnation and prompted concernover the security of energy supplies.
Russia agreed on Monday to withdraw its soldiers from areasoutside South Ossetia, and the second breakaway region ofAbkhazia, within a month, but troops inside the two regionswere not explicitly mentioned in the French-brokered deal.
Briefing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on talks withthe separatist leaders, Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukovsaid: "We have already agreed on the contingent -- in theregion of 3,800 men in each republic -- its structure andlocation."
Russia angered the West last month by recognising Abkhaziaand South Ossetia, which threw off Tbilisi's rule in separatistwars in the 1990s, as independent states. Nicaragua is the onlyother state to have recognised their independence.
Lavrov also met the two separatist regions' foreignministers on Tuesday to formally establish diplomatic ties, astep likely to further irritate Western governments.
Asked at a news conference how long Russian forces wouldstay in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Lavrov said: "They will bethere for a long time, at least for the foreseeable period.That is necessary to not allow a repeat of Georgianaggression."
PEACEKEEPING FORCE
Russia has said it was morally obliged to send in itsmilitary last month to prevent what it called a genocide in theseparatist regions by an aggressive Georgian government.
Before fighting broke out in Georgia last month, Russia hada peacekeeping force of 1,000 servicemen in South Ossetia and acontingent of about 2,500 in Abkhazia. They were operatingunder a peacekeeping mandate dating back to the 1990s.
Russia has welcomed the European Union's role as a mediatorover Georgia but in sharp contrast, it has accused the UnitedStates of contributing to the conflict by arming Georgia andfailing to rein in its leadership.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said the White House's decisionto rescind a draft agreement on civilian nuclear cooperationwith Russia was "mistaken and politicised."
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, who visited Georgia lastweek to show solidarity with the ex-Soviet state, said in Romeon Tuesday that the international community was united indeploring Russia's military action.
LIMITED RESPONSE
Both the European Union and the United States have warnedRussia it could face serious consequences over its actions inGeorgia, but the scope for punitive measures is limited.
Europe depends on Russia for more than a quarter of its gassupplies and Washington needs Russia's cooperation in effortsto curb Iran's nuclear ambitions.
After four hours of talks outside Moscow on Monday,Medvedev and EU leaders led by French President Nicolas Sarkozyagreed that Russian forces in buffer zones outside SouthOssetia and Abkhazia would pull back within a month.
They are to be replaced with an international monitoringforce which will include a 200-strong EU contingent.
Questions remain about Russia's dominant role inside thetwo separatist regions, where most residents hold Russianpassports.
The fighting in Georgia worried energy markets because itwas waged near the route of an oil pipeline that can pump up to1 million barrels of crude per day from the Caspian Sea. Thepipeline is favoured by the West because it bypasses Russia.
The International Court of Justice in the Hague, thehighest United Nations court, this week began hearing Georgianallegations that Russian violated the human rights of ethnicGeorgians in the separatist regions.
Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy head of the Russian military'sGeneral Staff, said Russia had nothing to hide.
"At this trial, our position is calm and dignified," hetold foreign military attachees. "I am firmly convinced thatthe Russian Federation took the only right decision."
