UN, EU react to Russia move on Georgia regions

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon fears that Russian recognition of Georgian rebel regions may complicate Security Council efforts for a solution, his spokesperson said yesterday.

"Today's developments may have wider implications for security and stability in the Caucasus," spokesperson Michele Montas told a regular news briefing after Russia said it was recognising South Ossetia and .

Meanwhile EU president France firmly condemns Russia's recognition of two rebel regions of Georgia as independent states, President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said yesterday, calling for a political solution.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced earlier in the day that he had decided to recognise the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, despite calls by Western powers for him to respect Georgia's territorial integrity.

"(The European Union presidency) firmly condemns this decision," Mr Sarkozy's office said in a statement.

"It calls for a political solution to the conflicts in Georgia. It will examine the consequences of Russia's decision from this point of view," it added.

France holds the EU's rotating six-month presidency, and in that capacity Mr Sarkozy brokered a peace deal between Russia and Georgia under which Moscow agreed to withdraw its forces to the positions they held before the crisis.

Mr Sarkozy called an emergency meeting of EU leaders next week to agree on a response to Russia's failure to withdraw its troops from Georgia completely.

Moscow's forces pushed into South Ossetia and then Georgia proper earlier this month in response to a Georgian to retake the rebellious region by force.

"The presidency of the Council of the (European) Union reiterates with force its attachment to the principle of Georgia's territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders," the statement said.

It added that Russia's decision went against that principle, as well as those of Georgia's independence and sovereignty.