MOSCOW, August 7. /TASS/. Russia did not suggest that its CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organisation) partners should follow it in recognizing the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in 2008, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with Kommersant daily.

"I knew it would be a very difficult conversation. When it all happened, I said at some event attended by my (CSTO) colleagues that I knew it was a very tough choice and would not try to force their hand, and that they were free to do as they thought best. I said we don’t want this to be our decision; we want this to be their decision. We still have our commitments under the CSTO, but this is quite another matter," he said.

According to Medvedev, "this was the basis of our relations with our partners on that issue".