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MOSCOW - Russia on Tuesday formally recognised the Georgian rebel regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states in a startling new challenge to the West.
President Dmitry Medvedev announced the recognition after meeting top ministers and defence chiefs on the Georgia crisis, ignoring warnings from Western powers against the move, which France and Britain immediately condemned.
"I have signed decrees on the recognition of the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia," Medvedev said in a national television address, standing at a podium flanked by two Russian flags.
"Russia calls on other states to follow its example," he added.
The Russian president said his decision was made "taking into account the freely expressed will of the Ossetian and Abkhaz people" and was in accordance with the United Nations charter and a 1970 declaration on international law.
"This is not an easy choice, but it is the only way to save the lives of people," Medvedev said.
He said Russia had shown "restraint and patience" with Georgia and had repeatedly sought to resolve the dispute through negotiations.
Medvedev said Russia's proposals to Georgia went unanswered.
"Unfortunately, they were ignored also by NATO and the UN."
Russia also suspended cooperation with NATO and a visit by the Western military alliance's secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Russia's ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin said.
Tensions have mounted since Russian forces entered Georgia on August 8 to thwart a Georgian attempt to retake South Ossetia. France brokered a ceasefire but the United States and other Western nations have accused Russia of breaching the accord by keeping tanks and troops in Georgia.
The US embassy in Tbilisi announced that a US navy destroyer carrying humanitarian aid was headed to the Georgian port of Poti, but later said it could no longer confirm the operation.
A top Russian general questioned the "extreme level" of NATO naval activity in the Black Sea, saying it could not be needed to deliver aid to Georgia or for routine naval exercises.
"We're bewildered at the extreme level of activity of NATO naval forces in the Black Sea, which continue to increase their numbers," General Anatoly Nogovitsyn told a briefing on the conflict.
"Only yesterday I said there were nine NATO ships in the sea and by evening another frigate of the US navy passed through the Bosphorus Straits.
"We have also learnt that another eight warships from NATO states are expected shortly.
"They talk about planned exercises and you can probably find some legitimacy in that but... it's very hard to believe that all the visits so far have been bringing only humanitarian aid," said Nogovitsyn.
"Nappies can be bought in any market in Georgia," he said.
Nogovitsyn insisted that Russia was complying with a French-brokered peace plan while Georgia's military was rearming.
The international community had warned Russia against recognising South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which broke from Georgia in the early 1990s with Moscow's backing after fighting protracted separatist wars.
European nations quickly condemned Medvedev's announcement.
"We consider that this is a regrettable decision and we reiterate our commitment to the territorial integrity of Georgia," a French foreign ministry spokesman told reporters in Paris.
"We reject this categorically and reaffirm Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity," a British Foreign Office spokesman said.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt called the move a "deliberate violation of international law". Italy also said it was illegal.
Before the announcement, US President George W Bush warned Medvedev not to take the step, saying recognition would undercut a French-brokered ceasefire agreement to end the conflict and violate UN resolutions.
"I call on Russia's leadership to meet its commitments and not recognize these separatist regions," Bush said in a statement.
South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity said however: "This is a great day in the history of our country and our people," Interfax news agency reported.
But Georgian National Security Council Secretary Alexander Lomaia told AFP: "This decision has no legal force. Russia will face harsh political consequences from this."
Tensions remained high in Georgia where Russia has kept its forces.
Georgian police and Ossetian militiamen were locked in a standoff over a flashpoint town the Ossetians want to make part of their breakaway region.
Georgian officials accused Ossetian militiamen of seeking to move deeper from the town of Akhalgori into Georgia while the Ossetians said Georgian police had taken up threatening positions.
South Ossetian forces on August 17 took control of Akhalgori, an Ossetian town a 45-minute drive northwest from Tbilisi which lies outside the administrative borders of South Ossetia.
- AFP/ir
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