The United States condemned on Wednesday the Syrian regime for recognizing two breakaway regions in Georgia and establishing diplomatic ties with them. “The United States strongly condemns the Syrian regime’s intention to establish diplomatic relations with the Russian-occupied Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia,” US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement. It added that it fully backed Georgia’s independence and reiterating its call for Russia to withdraw from the area. “These regions are part of Georgia. The United States’ position on Abkhazia and South Ossetia is unwavering,” the statement said. On Tuesday, Georgia said it would sever diplomatic relations with Syria after Damascus moved to recognize the two regions as independent states. "With this act the Assad regime declared its support for Russias military aggression against Georgia, the illegal occupation of Abkhazia and (South Ossetia) regions and the ethnic cleansing that has been taking place for years," Georgia said. Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Nauru previously recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, both of which broke away from Georgia following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Following that fight in the early 1990s, Georgia and Russia fought a war over the regions in August 2008. The United States and European Union have backed Georgia in calling the Russian operation a naked land grab. Last week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pledged deeper security and economic support for Georgia. He also called on Russia to withdraw its forces from Abkhazia and South Ossetia under the ceasefire agreement that followed the 2008 war. The department echoed that request on Wednesday. “We fully support Georgia’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, and call on all states to ... do the same,” Nauert said. Moscow’s 2014 annexation of the Crimean region in eastern Ukraine has also led to a war there between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces that has killed more than 10,000 people in three years.