Azernews.Az

TSKHINVALI/SOUTH OSSETIA – Russia’s recognition of South Ossetia on August 26, 2008 could go down in history as the moment the world ceased to be unipolar, South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity has said.

Russia recognized South Ossetia and nearby Abkhazia two weeks after a war with Georgia, which began when Georgian forces attacked South Ossetia in an attempt to bring it back under central control. The move was heavily criticized by Western powers.

Nicaragua, Venezuela and the tiny Pacific island state of Nauru are the only other countries so far to have followed Russia in recognizing the republics, which split from Georgia in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"August 26 is not simply the date on which Russia recognized South Ossetia - it may also go down in history as the date on which the world stopped being unipolar," Kokoity told journalists in the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali.

He also said that "even if the international community does not recognize us, they consider us independent states."

He also rejected claims by Georgian politicians that the stationing of Russian forces in both South Ossetia and Abkhazia meant that the republics had transformed into nothing more than gigantic Russian military bases in the Caucasus region.

"This is absurd," he said. "We signed these intergovernmental deals ourselves and asked Russia’s leaders to deploy the bases - this is normal international practice."

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday he was sure Russia did the right thing in August 2008 when it fought Georgia and recognized the breakaway republics.

"Revisiting the events of two years ago, I would like to say that I consider all the decisions made at the time to be absolutely warranted and justified," Medvedev said.

Medvedev also reiterated Russia's readiness to restore relations with Georgia after the departure of its current president, Mikheil Saakashvili.

He stressed that diplomatic ties with Georgia had been ruined through none of Russia's fault, laying the entire responsibility on Saakashvili.

"We cannot have normal relations with Georgia under the present leader," Medvedev said.