Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday he is sure Russia did the right thing in August 2008 when it fought Georgia and recognized the breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

"Revisiting the events of two years ago, I would like to say that I consider all the decisions made at the time to be absolutely warranted and justified," Medvedev said.

Russia recognized the republics after repelling Georgia's assault on South Ossetia in a five-day war. Nicaragua, Venezuela and the tiny Pacific island state of Nauru later followed suit.

He said Russia had come to the South Ossetian and Abkhazian peoples' rescue "when their sheer identity was under threat."

Medvedev also reiterated Russia's readiness to restore relations with Georgia after the departure of its current president, Mikheil Saakashvili.

He stressed that diplomatic ties with Georgia had been ruined through none of Russia's fault, laying the entire responsibility on Saakashvili.

"We cannot have normal relations with Georgia under the present leader," Medvedev said.

South Ossetia, along with nearby Abkhazia, broke away from Georgia in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

MOSCOW, August 5 (RIA Novosti)