Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili on Tuesday accused Russia of seeking "to change Europe's borders by force" after Moscow recognized two Georgian breakaway regions.
"This is the first attempt in Europe after Nazi Germany and the Stalinist Soviet Union to put a neighboring state on its knees and to change the borders of Europe by force," he said in an address to the nation.
Saakashvili accused Russia of seeking to "break the Georgian state, undermine the fundamental values of Georgia and to wipe Georgia fron the map."
"Today's step by Russia is completely illegal and will have no legal (bearing), neither for Georgia nor for the rest of the world," he said.
"Russia has made an extraordinary strategic mistake and has badly damaged its place in modern international relations."
The president also said he had urged Western leaders to speed up Georgia's integration into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union.
"I have appealed to all leaders concerned to speed up Georgia's NATO and E.U. integration. We already have some positive signals from our North Atlantic and European partners," he said.
President Saakashvili also vowed that Georgia would wage a peaceful struggle to restore the territorial integrity of the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.