UK condemns Russian military action

1:22am Thursday 28th August 2008

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Britain has condemned Russia's "excessive use of military force" in Georgia.

A statement from the G7, which includes Britain, condemned Russia for its recognition of the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The statement, signed by Mr Miliband and the foreign ministers of the other G7 countries "deplored" Moscow's use of military force in Georgia and called on it to withdraw its forces to pre-conflict lines.

The G7 comprises Britain, US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.

The strongly-worded statement comes as Mr Miliband arrives back in the UK following his visit to the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.

There he accused Mr Medvedev of trying to "redraw the map" of the Caucasus in a way that threatened the stability of the entire region through his unilateral recognition of the breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Mr Miliband said Mr Medvedev had a "big responsibility" not to provoke a new Cold War with the West.

The Foreign Secretary said that the sight of Russian tanks on the streets of Georgia had come as a "rude awakening" after so many years of peace in Europe.

He called for a new policy of "hard-headed engagement" with the Kremlin, while rejecting "knee-jerk" demands to break off relations between the West and Moscow or expel Russia from the G8.

EU leaders will gather to discuss the crisis in an emergency summit in Brussels on Monday summoned by French President Nicolas Sarkozy who currently holds the rotating EU presidency.