Russia recognizes independence of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Ukraine views this as very dangerous precedent

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Russia officially recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on August 26. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said this in his televised address and signed respective decrees at the request of Council of the Federation and the State Duma, "taking into account the will of Ossetian and Abkhaz nations."

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry earlier this morning called on Russia to refrain from recognizing the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

"The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry expresses deep concern over Council of the Federation and the State Duma's approval of addresses to the Russian president on August 25, 2008, proposing to recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia that are integral parts of Georgia's sovereign territory," the ministry said.

"Ukraine repeatedly pointed to its unchanged proposal to settle frozen conflicts on the post-Soviet space, proceeding only from the need to ensure the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of states," reads the statement.

The ministry said that "Ukraine views the Russian parliament's address as an extremely dangerous precedent that will aggravate the situation in the Caucasian region and on the post-Soviet space and will on the whole have a negative effect on the processes of a peaceful settlement of interethnic conflicts around the world," according to the statement.

Ukraine again urged Russia to avoid the creation of dangerous international legal precedents and fully implement reached international agreements in order to continue the process of a peaceful settlement, "involving multinational peacekeeping forces under the aegis of international organizations, first, and foremost, the United Nations, the OSCE and the EU."

UKRINFORM