NATO rejected Russia's decision to recognise two rebel Georgian provinces on Tuesday, calling the move a violation of UN resolutions on Georgia's integrity.

'I reject the decision of the Russian government to extend recognition to the South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions of Georgia,' military alliance Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said in a statement.

'This is in direct violation of numerous UN Security Council resolutions regarding Georgia's territorial integrity, resolutions that Russia itself has endorsed,' he said.

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