Miliband brands Russia's recognition of Georgian breakaway regions 'unjustifiable'

BRITAIN branded Russian recognition of Georgia's breakaway regions "unjustifiable and unacceptable" today as the diplomatic row intensified.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband accused Russian president Dmitri Medvedev of "inflaming" the crisis by insisting that South Ossetia and Abkhazia should be independent.

In a statement, Mr Miliband said: "Today's announcement further inflames an already tense situation in the region.

"We fully support Georgia's independence and territorial integrity, which cannot be changed by decree from Moscow."

Mr Miliband called on Russia to "abide by international law as the basis for resolving this crisis".

Moscow must implement "urgently and in full" its commitment to withdraw troops to positions they held before the military confrontation with Georgia earlier this month, he insisted.

"Today's announcement by President Medvedev that Russia will recognise South Ossetia and Abkhazia is unjustifiable and unacceptable," Mr Miliband said.

"It will also not work. It is contrary to the principles of the peace agreement, which Russia recently agreed, and to recent Russian statements.

"It takes no account of the views of the hundreds of thousands of Georgians and others who have been forced to abandon their homes in the two territories."

Mr Miliband said he would be visiting Ukraine tomorrow to assemble the "widest possible coalition against Russian aggression".

Mr Medvedev later ramped up the rhetoric further by claiming that Russia was "not afraid" of another Cold War – although he added that it did not want one.

"We are not afraid of anything, including the prospect of a new Cold War," he told a news agency. "But we don't want it and in this situation everything depends on the position of our partners."

Mr Medvedev said the West would have to "understand the reason behind" the decision to recognise the regions if it wanted to preserve good relations with Russia.

Both houses of the Russian parliament had called yesterday for the president to give South Ossetia and Abkhazia full backing.

But the votes were not binding on Mr Medvedev, and it had been hoped that they were merely designed to boost his bargaining power in negotiations with the West.

The US State Department had insisted that recognising the two provinces would be "a violation of Georgian territorial integrity" and "inconsistent with international law".

EU leaders are due to meet in Brussels next week to discuss their response to the growing crisis, with Prime Minister Gordon Brown expected to attend.

Downing Street said today that the gathering underlined the "strong interest" of the EU in tackling the issues.

Mr Medvedev warned yesterday that he was considering halting co-operation with Nato altogether, amid the fallout from the one-sided military confrontation between Russia and Georgia earlier this month.

This morning Russia cancelled a visit by Nato's secretary-general, and it has complained that the alliance is bolstering its military presence in the Black Sea.