Russia Accuses G7 Of Bias For Condemning Moscow Recognition Of 2 Breakaway Georgian Provinces

Sochi, Russia (AHN) - Russia accused the Group of Seven of bias in condemning Moscow's recognition of the breakaway Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abakhazia.

Russia's foreign ministry was reacting to the G7 statement which questioned the country's commitment to peace and security in the Caucasus after it extended diplomatic recognition to the two provinces.

The Ministry said Friday the G7 issued the statement to justify Georgia's acts of aggression against South Osssetia, which Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin claimed in an interview with CNN to have benefited one of the American presidential candidates.

"U.S. citizens were indeed in the area in conflict... They were acting in implementing those orders doing as they were ordered, and the only one who can give such orders is their leader," Putin told CNN.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino belied Putin's accusation. "To suggest that the United States orchestrated this on behalf of a political candidate just sounds not rational," Perino told CNN.

U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood added in a huddle with Washington media, "For the Russians to say they are not responsible for what happened in Georgia is ludicrous... Russia is to blame for this crisis, and the world is responding to what Russia has done."

Putin insisted Russia did not have much choice except to enter Georgia after a number of its peacekeepers in South Ossetia were killed because it has to protect Russians in the province.

At a meeting of the UN Security Council Thursday, envoys from the U.S., U.K. and Georgia accused Moscow of redrawing international boundaries by using military might.