Russian Ambassador to China Sergey Razov said on Thursday the "direct cause" of Russia's recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia's independence was the "acts of Georgian leaders".
Razov said it was the only possible decision by the Russian Federation to recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
"In history, military action should be stopped during the Olympic Games, but on Aug. 8, the Georgian armed forces launched a perfidious attack on South Ossetia," he said.
"During the 14 hours before the Russian army sent reinforcements to its peacekeeping forces, gunfire completely destroyed Tskhinvali, the capital of the republic, and 10 South Ossetian villages, leaving some 2,000 people dead, including Russian citizens, and more than 37,000 homeless.
"In the first several hours of the Georgian military's attack, 12 of the Russian peacekeepers who were carrying out peacekeeping missions in this area according to the international authorization approved by the Georgian leaders were killed, and 70 of them wounded. At the same time, Georgia's military action against Abkhazia was also under preparation."
Razov said the activities of Georgia had met with strong resistance from the South Ossetian and Abkhazian peoples and been thrown back by reinforced peacekeeping forces of Russia.
"The hope of restoring territorial integrity and peaceful coexistence of the ethnic people of South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Georgia has been written off by the hand of the Georgia's leader.
"According to the resolutions of their own parliaments, the presidents of South Ossetia and Abkhazia approached Russian leaders for recognition of national sovereignty," he said.
The decision to recognize the independence of the republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia was made in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, the 1970 Declaration of Principles of International Law, and other elementary international documents, he said.
"Life in the region has been restored to order gradually. At the present our goal is to resume classes for all primary and middle school students and help make them live peaceful lives," he added.
"The Russian government has allocated special funds to rebuild the infrastructure and houses in South Ossetia".
The Georgian government had announced a lower level of diplomatic ties with Russia, and the Georgian parliament was considering the severing of Georgia's diplomatic relations with Russia, Razov said.
At the same time, the United States and its Western allies decided to continue censuring Russia.
Abkhazia and South Ossetia broke from Georgian rule during wars in the early 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union, but their self-proclaimed independence is not recognized internationally.
Georgian forces attacked South Ossetia on Aug. 7, prompting Russia to send in troops who drove Georgian forces out of the region and took over parts of Georgian territory.
On Monday, both houses of the Russian parliament unanimously adopted an appeal to President Dmitry Medvedev to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. On Tuesday, Medvedev signed a decree formally recognizing the two Georgian breakaway regions as independent states.
In a televised address to the nation Tuesday, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili urged Georgians to stay calm and vowed a peaceful struggle to defend his country.
Source:Xinhua
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