Britain rejects Russian move on South Ossetia and Abkhazia

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Tuesday it rejected a decision by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to recognise two rebel regions of Georgia as independent states.

"We reject this categorically and reaffirm Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity," a spokeswoman for the Foreign Office (ministry) said.

Britain has been one of the West's most vocal critics of Moscow since Russia's military incursion into Georgia earlier this month.

The spokeswoman said Medvedev's decision to sign a decree recognising the Georgian rebel regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states did "nothing to improve the prospects for peace in the Caucasus".

"This is contrary to obligations that Russia has repeatedly taken on in (United Nations) Security Council resolutions," she added.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who is expected to visit Russia's neighbour Ukraine this week, has accused Moscow of "blatant aggression" against Georgia and repeatedly warned it faces political consequences if it continues to flout international opinion.

(Reporting by Kate Kelland. Editing by Richard Williams)