MOSCOW -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the proposed Western sanctions against Moscow would not leave the country isolated.
"I believe that a country - Russia in this case - that can enable its citizens to maintain their honor and dignity, protect their lives and fulfill its international legal commitments ... will not be isolated," Putin said in an interview with German television company ARD.
"Europe and the United States are not the whole world," he said in the interview, which was shown on Russia's Channel One television on Friday evening.
The premier also accused the European countries of being under the thumb of the United States.
"If European states want to serve the foreign policy interests of the United States, I do not think they will gain anything thereby," he was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.
Earlier this week, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed decrees recognizing the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which broke from central Georgian rule during wars in the early 1990s.
Georgia, a former Soviet republic and a staunch US ally, has long been at odds with Russia over the two breakaway regions and its own bids to join NATO and the European Union.
Earlier this month, Georgia sent in troops to reclaim South Ossetia, triggering a military counter-offensive from Russia. The conflict ended with a ceasefire agreement between Tbilisi and Moscow brokered by France.
