Minsk  - Belarusian MPs on Tuesday said they supported Russia's move to accept the independence of the renegade Georgian provinces South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the Belapan news agency reported.

"I think it was an absolutely correct decision," said Sergei Kostian, a member of the parliament international affairs committee. "All responsible people should support Russia, so as to put an end to the unilateral influence in the world of the US and the European Union."

Kostian echoed earlier Kremlin statements, drawing a parallel between international recognition of Kosovo's independence, and Russia's recognition of South Ossetia's and Abkhazia's independence.

"Have the US and the West forgotten, how they accepted Kosovo's independence, how they bombed Yugoslavia, are bombing Iraq, and have forgotten Afghanistan?" he asked.

"Russia has irrevocably got up off of her knees," said MP Sergei Gaidukevich.

"(Russia) has announced that she is a major state able to influence the geopolitical situation in the world ... and she has begun to act using the language of the US, on the basis of her interests, without worrying about the dissatisfaction of other countries," Gaidukevich said. (dpa)