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== Russia's recognition ==
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| image1 = Decree recognising Abkhazian independence.png
| image2 = Decree recognising South Ossetia independence.png
| footer = Presidential decrees No. 1260 (left) and No. 1261 (right), recognizing the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia
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[[File:Dmitry Medvedev address on 26 August 2008 regarding Abkhazia & South Ossetia.ogg|thumb|right|President Medvedev announcing that he has signed decrees recognising the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia (in Russian). [https://web.archive.org/web/20080902001442/http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2008/08/26/1543_type82912_205752.shtml Transcript in English].]]
After hearing the aforementioned appeals from both the Abkhazian and South Ossetian leadership, on 25 August 2008, the Federation Council and [[State Duma]] passed motions calling upon President Dmitry Medvedev to recognise the independence of both states and establish [[diplomatic relations]]. On 26 August 2008, [[President of Russia|President]] Medvedev signed [[Decree of the President of Russia|decrees]] recognising the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as sovereign states,<ref>''The New York Times'', 26 August 2008: "[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/27/world/europe/27russia.html?hp Russia Backs Independence of Georgian Enclaves]" by Clifford J. Levy.</ref> and made the following statement:
{{Quotation|"A decision needs to be taken based on the situation on the ground. Considering the freely expressed will of the [[Ossetian people|Ossetian]] and [[Abkhaz people|Abkhaz]] peoples and being guided by the provisions of the [[Charter of the United Nations|UN Charter]], the 1970 Declaration on the Principles of International Law Governing Friendly Relations Between States,<ref>See [http://www.whatconvention.org/en/conv/0703.htm Text of the convention] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820092352/http://www.whatconvention.org/en/conv/0703.htm |date=20 August 2008 }}</ref> the [[Helsinki Accords|CSCE Helsinki Final Act of 1975]] and other fundamental international instruments, I signed Decrees on the recognition by the Russian Federation of South Ossetia's and Abkhazia's independence.
Russia calls on other states to follow its example. This is not an easy choice to make, but it represents the only possibility to save human lives."<ref name="medspeech">{{cite news|last=Medvedev |first=Dmitry |author-link=Dmitry Medvedev |title=Statement by President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev, 26 August 2008 |location=Moscow |publisher=Federal Government of Russia |date=26 August 2008 |url=http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2008/08/26/1543_type82912_205752.shtml |access-date=4 September 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080902001442/http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2008/08/26/1543_type82912_205752.shtml |archive-date=2 September 2008 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>}}
President Medvedev stated that "Western countries rushed to recognise [[Kosovo]]'s illegal [[2008 Kosovo declaration of independence|declaration of independence]] from [[Serbia]]. We argued consistently that it would be impossible, after that, to tell the [[Abkhazians]] and [[Ossetians]] (and dozens of other groups around the world) that what was good for the [[Kosovo Albanians]] was not good for them. In [[international relations]], you cannot have one rule for some and another rule for others."<ref name="fintimes">[http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9c7ad792-7395-11dd-8a66-0000779fd18c.html Why I had to recognise Georgia's breakaway regions] Financial Times 26 August 2008.</ref>
Russian [[Prime Minister of Russia|Prime Minister]] [[Vladimir Putin]] noted [[Georgian–Ossetian conflict (1918-1920)|previous Georgian aggression against Ossetia]], and said "those who insist that those territories must continue to belong to Georgia are [[Stalinist]]s — they stick to [[Joseph Stalin|Yosif Visarionovich Stalin]]'s decision", referring to the fact that it was Stalin, an ethnic [[Georgian people|Georgian]], who gave the territory to the [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic]], the predecessor of the modern day Georgian republic.<ref>{{cite news | title = Transcript: CNN interview with Vladimir Putin | location = Moscow | publisher = CNN | date = 28 August 2008 | url = http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/08/29/putin.transcript/ | access-date = 30 August 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.rian.ru/politics/20080828/150771441.html Interview of Prime Minister Putin] in original, [[RIA Novosti]]</ref>
In the UN Security Council, the [[United States]] was heavily critical of Russian support of the secessionist governments, accusing the government of violating Georgia's [[territorial integrity]]. In response, [[Vitaly Churkin]], the [[Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations|Permanent Representative]] of Russia to the UN, attacked the U.S. claim to moral high ground by recalling its [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invasion]] of [[Iraq]] in 2003.<ref>{{UN document |docid=S-PV-5969 |body=Security Council |type=Verbatim Report |meeting=5969 |page=16 |anchor=pg016-bk02-pa03 |date=28 August 2008 |speakername=Mr. Churkin | speakernation=Russia |accessdate=3 September 2008 }}</ref> Others accused the United States of hypocrisy, citing its support of the violation of Serbian territorial integrity when it recognised the independence of Kosovo in 2008.<ref>{{cite news | last = Reding | first = Andrew | title = That Caucasus hypocrisy | newspaper = The Globe and Mail | date = 28 August 2008 | url = https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080828.wcogeorgia0828/BNStory/specialComment/home | access-date = 29 August 2008}}</ref>
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