The foreign minister of the Georgian breakaway republic of South Ossetia will attend Nauru's celebrations next week marking 50 years of independence.
South Ossetia - a break-away republic of Georgia recognised by four countries as an independent state Photo: AFP
Dmitry Medoev told reporters that he will lead a delegation to Nauru which is one of only four countries recognising the Caucausian territory as an independent state.
The South Ossetian government news service said the visit followed an invitation by Nauru's president Baron Waqa who met South Ossetia's leaders in Moscow in November.
The South Ossetian president Anatoly Bibilov said at the Moscow meeting Mr Waqa confirmed that nothing would get Nauru to change its intentions and it was ready to promote South Ossetia's interests at the United Nations.
Tuvalu also briefly recognised South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which is a another break-away Georgian republic.
The United States bans financial assistance to countries which recognise Georgia's break-away regions.
Washington also prohibits US representatives in international financial institutions from supporting programmes that violate Georgia's sovereignty.