Western powers have accused Moscow of violating the agreement signed by the Georgian and Russian leaders. However, Sergei Lavrov said the document signed by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili bears no relation to that signed by Russia.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the document after talks in the Kre

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mlin with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the day after it was signed by Saakashvili.

Lavrov said that after the ceasefire agreement was signed, the text was amended several times, but that the amended text has no relation to the plan Russia agreed to. In particular, he said plans for discussions on the regions' future status, included in the sixth point of the document, were removed from the amended text.

Georgia has received the support of most Western powers in the ongoing standoff with Russia, which officially recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent countries on Tuesday. Moscow says the move was needed to protect the regions' residents from Georgian acts of aggression.

Lavrov said the Russian leadership has been surprised by level of criticism from Western powers of Moscow's actions, which he said were aimed at ending the Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-South Ossetian conflicts.

The six points of the Medvedev-Sarkozy peace deal are: renouncing the use of force, halting all military action, providing free access to humanitarian aid, the return of Georgian Armed Forces to their bases, the return of Russia's Armed Forces to their positions prior to combat and the start of international discussions on the future status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and on ways to ensure their security.

Georgia launched an artillery bombardment against South Ossetia in the early hours of August 8, in an attempt to seize control over the separatist province, which split from Georgia in the early 1990s. Most people living in South Ossetia have Russian citizenship.

DUSHANBE, August 27 (RIA Novosti)