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Putin says Russia acts 'correctly' in S. Ossetia

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-31 22:07

MOSCOW  -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that his country acted "correctly, morally and in accordance with international law" on the South Ossetia issue, local media reported.

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"The truth is on our side. We act absolutely correctly, morally and in accordance with international law," Putin said in an interview with Russia's Vesti-24 television.

Earlier this month, Georgia sent in troops to reclaim its breakaway region of South Ossetia, triggering a military counter-offensive by Russia. The conflict ended with a ceasefire agreement between Tbilisi and Moscow brokered by France.

Russia recognized the self-proclaimed independence of South Ossetia and another Georgian breakaway region of Abkhazia last Tuesday, aggravating  tensions between Moscow and the West.

"Someone in Europe wants to serve someone else's foreign-policy interests," said the former Russian president, who took a hardline policy towards the West in the last years of his eight-year presidency.

Georgia, a former Soviet republic, has long been at odds with Russia over its two breakaway regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and its own bids to join NATO and the European Union.