KIEV, Aug 26 – Ukraine joined the world’s major powers and NATO on Tuesday in condemning Russia for its unilateral decision to recognize Georgia’s separatist enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.

A Ukrainian Foreign Ministry team, led by Yuriy Kostenko, the acting first deputy minister, on Tuesday cancelled a scheduled visit to Moscow, citing the need for further consultations.

The responses come as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a day after Russia’s Parliament unanimously supported the enclaves’ request to secede, announced Tuesday that he had signed decrees recognizing their independence.

“This is a gross violation of international law, bilateral and multilateral agreements,” Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“The actual annexation of the part of the Georgian territory through the creation and support of marionette regimes shows resurrection of the ‘rule of force’ doctrine in Russia for settling international problems,” the ministry said.

The strongly worded statement comes amid fears that Ukraine may become the next target of Russia’s increasingly assertive foreign policy as Moscow desperately seeks to re-establish itself as an international power.

“Ukraine categorically condemns the adventurous decision and calls on the international community to unite its efforts for ensuring unconditional respect of the Georgian territorial integrity and implementation by Russia of undertaken commitments.”

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the Russian move “regrettable.”

David Miliband, Britain's foreign secretary, is due to arrive in Ukraine on Wednesday seeking to assemble "the widest possible coalition against Russian aggression in Georgia. We fully support Georgia's independence and territorial integrity, which cannot be changed by decree from Moscow."

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy called an emergency EU summit for Monday in Brussels to chart a common EU position on Russia.

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said he “rejected” Russia’s decision.

“Russia’s actions in recent weeks call into question Russia’s commitment to peace and security in the Caucasus,” Scheffer said in a statement. “NATO firmly supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia, and calls on Russia to respect these principles.”

But Russia indicated Tuesday that it had been prepared to push forward with recognizing the two enclaves as independent states even if the move meant a new cold war.

"We are not afraid of anything, including the prospect of a new cold war," Medvedev said in televised remarks. "Russia is a state which has to ensure its interests along the whole length of its border. This is absolutely clear."

Mikhail Saakashvili, the president of Georgia, said Russia’s move was an attempt to militarily annex a sovereign nation… in direct violation of international law."

"The Russian Federation is seeking to validate the use of violence, direct military aggression, and ethnic cleansing to forcibly change the borders of a neighboring state," Saakashvili said.

But Medvedev accused Saakashvili of “genocide” as he had argued for declaring the enclaves independent,

"This is not an easy choice to make,” Medvedev said. “But it represents the only possibility to save human lives."

"Saakashvili opted for genocide to accomplish his political objectives. By doing so, he himself dashed all the hopes for the peaceful coexistence of Ossetians, Abkhazians and Georgians in a single state." (tl/ez)