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=== Western response ===
The [[European Union]], [[NATO]],<ref>[http://www.nato.int/issues/nato-georgia/index.html NATO's relations with Georgia] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905234828/http://www.nato.int/issues/nato-georgia/index.html |date=5 September 2008 }} NATO 2 September 2008.</ref> the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe|OSCE]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://old.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=19296|title=OSCE Chair Condemns Russia's Recognition of Abkhazia, S.Ossetia|author=Civil Georgia|date=26 August 2008|access-date=22 January 2022}}</ref> and the [[United States]]<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7597336.stm US condemns Russia over Georgia] BBC 4 September 2008</ref> immediately voiced displeasure with Russia's decision.
== Comparison ==
[[File:Abkhazia02.png|thumb|250px|Abkhazia is recognised by Russia and five other countries.]]
[[File:Ossetia05.png|thumb|250px|South Ossetia is recognised by Russia and four other countries.]]
=== Comparisons with Kosovo ===
{{Further|International recognition of Kosovo|Kosovo independence precedent}}
The [[Assembly of Kosovo|Assembly]] of the [[Serbia]]n [[Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija]], under administration of the [[United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo]] since 1999, [[unilateral]]ly [[2008 Kosovo declaration of independence|declared independence]] as the [[Republic of Kosovo]] on 17 February 2008.<ref name="bbc_proclaim">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7249034.stm |title=Kosovo MPs proclaim independence |work=BBC News |date=17 February 2008}}</ref> The Republic of Kosovo was soon recognised by the United States and the [[EU three]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ks-gov.net/MPJ/Njohjet/tabid/93/Default.aspx |title=Who Recognized Kosova as Independent State |publisher=Kosovo Government |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913141657/http://www.ks-gov.net/MPJ/Njohjet/tabid/93/Default.aspx |archive-date=13 September 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
At an emergency meeting of the [[UN Security Council]], [[President of Serbia|Serbian President]] [[Boris Tadić]] asked the Council, "Are we all aware of the [[precedent]] that is being set and are we aware of the catastrophic consequences that it may lead to?" The [[Ambassador|Permanent Representatives]] of the United States, United Kingdom and France presented their opinion that the Kosovo case was ''[[sui generis]]'' in nature and could not be perceived as a [[precedent]].<ref>{{cite press release | title=Security Council meets in emergency session following Kosovo's declaration of independence, with members sharply divided on issue |publisher=[[UN Security Council]] |date=18 February 2008 |url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/sc9252.doc.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226043350/http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/sc9252.doc.htm |archive-date=26 February 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
The setting of a precedent was mentioned by many countries. Among them were [[Argentina]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Argentina rules out recognition | publisher=[[B92]] |date=29 February 2008 |url=http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=02&dd=29&nav_id=48079 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915040702/http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=02&dd=29&nav_id=48079 |archive-date=15 September 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[Cuba]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Castro|first=Fidel| author-link=Fidel Castro|title=I hope I never have reason to be ashamed|publisher=[[Granma (newspaper)|Granma Internacional]]|date=29 February 2008|url=http://www.rrebelde.cu/noticias/nacionales/reflexiones/nacionales1-290208_ing.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915234254/http://www.rrebelde.cu/noticias/nacionales/reflexiones/nacionales1-290208_ing.html |archive-date=15 September 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[India]] stated that Kosovo "can set a very dangerous precedent for similar cases around the world."<ref>{{cite news|title=Ambassador: India's Kosovo stand consistent|publisher=[[B92]]|date=31 March 2008|url=http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=03&dd=31&nav_id=48973|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20080915040715/http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2008&mm=03&dd=31&nav_id=48973|archive-date=15 September 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> The then [[President of Russia|Russian President]] [[Vladimir Putin]] described the recognition by Western powers of Kosovo independence as "terrible precedent, which will ''de facto'' blow apart the whole system of [[international relations]], developed not over decades, but over centuries."<ref name="Putin response">{{cite news|title=Kosovo independence a 'terrible precedent' |url=http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23263323-954,00.html |publisher=[[The Courier Mail]] |date=23 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912160252/http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23263323-954,00.html |archive-date=12 September 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> He then went on to say, "They have not thought through the results of what they are doing. At the end of the day it is a two-ended stick and the second end will come back and hit them in the face."<ref name="Putin response" />
Some analysts at the time called ignoring Russian objections and the move by the United States and the [[EU three|EU-3]] a mistake, with Ted Galen Carpenter of the [[Cato Institute]] stating that their view of Kosovo being [[sui generis]] and setting no precedent as "extraordinarily naïve".<ref name="catofeb">{{cite web|last=Galen Carpenter|first=Ted|title=Kosovo Independence Grenade|publisher=[[Cato Institute]]|date=22 February 2008|url=http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9238|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311205703/http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9238|archive-date=11 March 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> It was also suggested that Russia could use the case of Kosovo as pretext for recognising Abkhazia and South Ossetia or [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|annexing Crimea in the future]].<ref name="catofeb"/><ref>{{cite web|last=Friedman|first=George| title=Kosovar Independence and the Russian Reaction |publisher=[[Stratfor]] |date=20 February 2008 |url=http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/kosovar_independence_and_russian_reaction |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130104222509/http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/kosovar_independence_and_russian_reaction |archive-date=4 January 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[The Heritage Foundation]] suggested that Kosovo was no precedent due to its administration by the United Nations as a [[protectorate]] for seven years and was blocked from being admitted to the United Nations due to Russia being able to use their veto in the [[United Nations Security Council]].<ref>{{cite web |last=McNamara |first=Sally |title=Russia's Recognition of Independence for South Ossetia and Abkhazia Is Illegitimate: They Are Not Kosovo |publisher=[[The Heritage Foundation]] |date=28 August 2008 |url=http://www.heritage.org/Research/Europe/wm2037.cfm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829174708/http://www.heritage.org/Research/Europe/wm2037.cfm |archive-date=29 August 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
In July 2008, in a speech to [[Ambassadors of Russia|Russian Ambassadors]] on [[Foreign policy of Russia|Russian foreign policy]], [[Dmitry Medvedev]] opined that "for the European Union, Kosovo is almost what [[Iraq]] has proved to be for the United States" and that they acted unilaterally in pursuit of their own self-interests and undermined [[international law]] in the process.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2008/07/15/1121_type82912type84779_204155.shtml |title=Speech at the Meeting with Russian Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives to International Organisations|publisher=The Kremlin |date=15 July 2008 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20080803071617/http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2008/07/15/1121_type82912type84779_204155.shtml |archive-date=3 August 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
In September 2008 hearings before the [[United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs]], [[California]] [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[Congressman]] and member of the [[United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight|Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight]], [[Dana Rohrabacher]], compared the situation in Georgia to Kosovo.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://carnegieendowment.org/files/09-09-08_McFaul_US-Russia_Relations.pdf |title=U.S.–RUSSIA RELATIONS IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE GEORGIA CRISIS |publisher=Carnegie Endowment |date=9 September 2008 |format=PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016053849/http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/09-09-08_McFaul_US-Russia_Relations.pdf |archive-date=16 October 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref>
<blockquote>"Now, we can talk until we are blue in the face, trying to say there is no analogy here, but it does not cover up the obvious analogy between Kosovo and what is going on in Georgia, where you have breakaway republics similar to what the Serbs faced. Now, the only difference is, of course, we are Americans, and they are Russians, and the people trying to break away there were [[Russophilia|pro-Russian]].<br />
Either we are for democracy, either we are for those people in Kosovo and in Ossetia and elsewhere and, I might say, in Georgia for their right to be separate from Russia, to begin with, and if we lose that, we have lost the high ground.<br />
We are already losing our credibility right now. Let us not lose the high ground."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-110hhrg44278/pdf/CHRG-110hhrg44278.pdf |title=HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS |publisher=U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE |date=9 September 2008}}</ref></blockquote>
In December 2008, [[Martti Ahtisaari]], author of Kosovo peace plan, said that Kosovo was not a precedent for the recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kasparov.ru/material.php?id=493A9A31166CC |script-title=ru:Косово - не прецедент |publisher=Kasparov.ru |date=6 December 2008 |language=ru}}</ref>
In April 2009, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister [[Alexander Grushko]] said that Russia would not recognize Kosovo even if the European Union recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rbc.ru/politics/02/04/2009/5703d2f99a79473dc814d65a |script-title=ru:МИД РФ: Россия не признает независимость Косово |publisher=RBK Daily |date=2 April 2009 |language=ru}}</ref> In May 2009, [[Konstantin Kosachev]], chairman of the Russian [[State Duma]] Foreign Affairs Committee, declared that the support of the United States, the NATO and some [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] countries was "not enough" to consider Kosovo as an independent state.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ria.ru/20090522/171947538.html |script-title=ru:Косачев: Косово не может считаться независимым даже при поддержке США |publisher=RIA Novosti |date=22 May 2009 |language=ru}}</ref> In July 2009, [[President of Abkhazia]] [[Sergei Bagapsh]] responded to allegations that Abkhazia could not be considered independent because there were Russian military and border guards deployed in Abkhazia by stating that Kosovo was declared as independent state while there were 7,000 NATO troops deployed there. He said that although [[Western Sahara]] was recognized by 48 countries, it did not become an independent country. Bagapsh further said that recognition by "serious states" was preferred to recognition by [[Papua New Guinea]] and [[Zimbabwe]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://echo.msk.ru/programs/beseda/605593-echo/ |script-title=ru:Интервью |publisher=Echo of Moscow |date=15 July 2009 |language=ru |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090718194145/http://echo.msk.ru/programs/beseda/605593-echo/ |archivedate=18 July 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
In September 2009, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, [[Vitaly Churkin]], explained why Kosovo's case was different from Abkhazia and South Ossetia by saying that "the strongest argument is the fact that at the time when Kosovo's authorities made the UDI, nobody was threatening them or putting them in a position where they had to secede. On the contrary, Belgrade even went so far as to refrain from exerting any military or economic pressure on [[Pristina]]."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.sofiaecho.com/2009/09/04/779528_romania-ready-to-partner-serbia-in-world-court-action-against-kosovo |title=Romania ready to partner Serbia in World Court action against Kosovo |author=Clive Leviev-Sawyer |publisher=The Sofia Echo |date=4 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090908164843/http://www.sofiaecho.com/2009/09/04/779528_romania-ready-to-partner-serbia-in-world-court-action-against-kosovo |archive-date=8 September 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
In October 2009, Dmitry Medvedev said that Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence and the consequences "have confirmed the inadequacy of attempts to adjust the solution of complex international problems to considerations of notorious political expediency." The Russian president said, "We consider it unacceptable to do what was done in the Kosovo precedent – to use the lack of progress at negotiations as the reason for unilateral actions, including recognition of new international legal entities." He said that comparison between Kosovo and South Ossetia was unacceptable. He said, "We are categorically against drawing incorrect parallels between the Balkan events and the events in the Caucasus. As concerns South Ossetia – it's our unambiguous, absolutely clear position – it about repelling direct military aggression. And what was done by Russia after that, was done in full accordance with the UN Charter."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vesti.ru/article/2252548 |script-title=ru:Медведев: Россия против проведения параллелей между событиями на Балканах и на Кавказе |publisher=Vesti |date=20 October 2009 |language=ru}}</ref>
=== Other events ===
Abkhazia said it would not take part in the "Geneva Talks on Security and Stability in the Caucasus" in June 2010 because of concerns over the objectivity of the co-chairmen who were representatives of the UN, the EU, and OSCE. A spokesman said "Our proposals are being ignored, discussions on the non-renewal of war are being procrastinated, instead secondary questions are being discussed. Thereupon we feel the co-chairmen have no real proposals, and we want to give them time till September to prepare a document, concerning security, and acceptable for all sides. The Geneva discussions are necessary, and it is normal that each party voices its position, but the mediators must be neutral and non-biased. But the mediators fail to conduct discussions in a constructive impartial manner."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abkhaziagov.org/en/news/detail.php?ID%3D32028 |title=Abkhaz Delegation Renounces ITS Participation in Geneva Talks on Security and Stability in the Caucasus |access-date=2010-06-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100630014134/http://www.abkhaziagov.org/en/news/detail.php?ID=32028 |archive-date=30 June 2010 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
=== States formally recognising Abkhazia or South Ossetia as independent ===
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