Putin says Russia acts 'correctly' in S. Ossetia
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.
"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.
