Russian president granted sole right to deploy troops abroad

MOSCOW, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Federation Council, the upper house of parliament, on Wednesday passed a proposal granting the president sole right to dispatch Russian armed forces abroad.

President Dmitry Medvedev handed over the bill to the Federation Council on Dec. 8, requesting the right to send Russian troops into other countries in an emergency without consulting parliament.

Once the bill is signed into law, the Russian president will be allowed to make decisions alone on the operational use of Russian troops overseas to protect the interests of the state and its citizens and maintain international peace and security.

Under an expired Russian law, the upper chamber had the exclusive right to send armed forces to fight terrorism on foreign soil.

A new law adopted in November stipulated that Russian troops could be deployed in more "emergency situations," but retained the proviso that the president needed the Federation Council's prior approval.

Russia and Georgia fought a five-day war in August 2008 when Georgia tried to retake South Ossetia, which, together with Abkhazia, broke away from Georgia during a war in the 1990s that followed the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

In response, Moscow sent in troops to drive Georgian forces out of the region and recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states two weeks after the conflict ended.