NATO said treaty on “alliance and integration” signed between Moscow and Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia on March 18, “is yet another move by the Russian Federation that hampers ongoing efforts by the international community to strengthen security and stability in the region.”

“NATO said it does not recognize the so-called treaty on alliance and integration,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement on March 18. “It violates Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and blatantly contradicts the principles of international law, OSCE principles and Russia’s international commitments.”

“It does not contribute to a peaceful and lasting settlement of the situation in Georgia. South Ossetia and Abkhazia are integral parts of Georgia. NATO fully supports Georgia’s sovereignty, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. We continue to call on Russia to reverse its recognition of the South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions of Georgia as independent states and to withdraw its forces from Georgia,” reads the statement.

The United States and the European Union said in their statements on the eve of the signing of the treaty in Moscow that they do not recognize its legitimacy.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry said it “condemns so called ‘treaty’, which is directed against sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia, and which, like in case of Abkhazia region, constitutes the actual annexation of the occupied Tskhinvali region.”

Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili said in a statement that the treaty “further deteriorates situation created as a result of occupation” and transforms it into the stage of “annexation.”