On August 30, 2008, Tarzan Kokoity, the Deputy Speaker of South Ossetia's parliament, announced that the region would soon be absorbed into Russia, so that South and North Ossetians could live together in one united Russian state [REF].
In another move towards integration with the Russian Federation, South Ossetian President Leonid Tibilov proposed on December 29, 2015 a name change "emphasizing South Ossetia as part of Russia".