SOCHI, August 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russia does not want a new Cold War but is not afraid of one should it occur, the Russian president told the Russia Today international news channel on Tuesday.

President Dmitry Medvedev signed decrees on Tuesday recognizing Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states despite warnings by Western leaders against the move.

"We are not afraid of anything, including the prospect of a new Cold War, but we don't want one, and in this situation everything depends on the position of our partners," Medvedev said, adding that the West should understand why Moscow recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia's sovereignty.

Medvedev also said that U.S. presidential candidates may use this current situation in their election campaigns, although "voters are indifferent to events abroad during U.S. elections."

The president said that recognizing the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia was in line with international law, adding that during the independence debate in Kosovo, Russia's western partners said Kosovo was a special case.

"Each case of recognizing independence is a special case," he said, "A special case in Kosovo, a special case in Abkhazia and South Ossetia."

"Until recently we tried to help restore state unity, but the last nail was driven in following [Georgia's] decision to attack," Medvedev said.

The move to recognize the rebel republics will further worsen Russia's relations with Western powers, already strained over what they called Moscow's disproportionate response to Georgia's military offensive on South Ossetia.

Russian officials said Georgia lost its right to the two regions after launching a military offensive to retake the rebel region on August 8 in which hundreds of people died and thousands were forced to flee the devastated capital Tskhinvali.

Georgia called the decision to recognize the republics "an unconcealed annexation" and said its ties with Russia would now "stall for a long time, if not for good."

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Russia's recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia "regrettable."