Italian MEP Giulietto Chiesa believes, "the majority of the European population has been systematically disinformed on the issues".

The director of Russia’s Institute for Globalisation Studies, Boris Kagarlitsky, considers whether the US applies a double standard to disputed territories.

Marc Almond, a history lecturer from Oxford University, joined RT to share his perspective on Georgia’s breakaway regions.

Now that Russia has recognised the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Russian Profile magazine’s Dmitry Babich and RT's political commentator Peter Lavelle discuss why human rights are more important than sovereignty or territorial integrity.

Russia’s formal recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has prompted a swift reaction from the international community. Dmitry Evstafiev, the deputy director of the Russian National Laboratory of Politics, says any notion of cooperation with the US, EU and NATO is over.

The ambiguity over Russia-West relations is finished after the Russian president had the final word on South Ossetia and Abkhazia, says John Lochland, from the Institute for Democracy and Co-operation.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed an order to recognise the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. A political analyst from the Moscow News, Kirill Bessonov, says Russia will get a mixed reaction from the West.

Georgia's two breakaway republics have gained unanimous support from the Russian parliament in their bids for independence. Now South Ossetia and Abkhazia are likely to get approval from the Russian President, says political analyst Aleksey Urazov from Moscow State University.

The conflict in South Ossetia has led to a strengthened Russia and now the West needs to look at Russian interests from Moscow's perspective, says Boston University’s professor of international relations Andrew J. Bacevich.