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Sochi, Russia: Tension escalated in the volatile Caucasus as Russia recognised two rebel regions of Georgia as independent states on Tuesday, putting Moscow on a collision course with the West.
Flanked by a Russian flag and a presidential banner, President Dmitry Med-vedev said Tbilisi's desire to seize back Abkhazia and South Ossetia by force had killed all hopes for their peaceful co-existence in one state with Georgia.
"[Georgian President Mikhail] Saakashvili chose genocide to solve his political tasks," Medvedev declared in a statement broadcast from his summer residence in the resort of Sochi.
"The peoples of South Ossetia and Abkhazia have more than once spoken in referenda supporting the independence of their republics. We understand that after what had happened ... they have the right to decide their fate themselves.
'Completely illegal'
Saakashvili, after a meeting of his National Security Council, branded the move "completely illegal".
"This decision is completely illegal and has no legal basis," he said in an address to the nation.
In an interview with CNN Medvedev later said Russia would help defend Abkhazia and South Ossetia if they were attacked, and said Moscow had no plans to intervene militarily in other conflicts in former Soviet states.
"As far as involvement in other conflicts is concerned, we naturally are not going to do this," Medvedev told CNN. "But Russia is a state which has to ensure its interests along the whole length of its border, this is absolutely clear."
The United States, Nato, the European Union and European powers swiftly attacked Moscow's recognition move.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described it as "regrettable", German Chancellor Angela Merkel termed it "absolutely unacceptable" and Britain "categorically rejected" the decision.
Nato cooperation hit
EU president France joined in condemnation of the Russian move. "It [the EU] calls for a political solution to the conflicts in Georgia. It will examine the consequences of Russia's decision from this point of view," President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said in a statement.
Russia is freezing cooperation with Nato in a number of areas to protest against the Western alliance's stance on Georgia but will not halt assistance on Afghanistan, Russia's Nato envoy said yesterday.
The West's ability to punish Russia is limited.
United Nations sanctions against Russia are out of the question as Russia has a veto in the Security Council.
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