GORI — The Kremlin poured scorn yesterday on Western attempts to punish Russia over its invasion of Georgia, saying it was more than happy to be locked out of international institutions.

President Medvedev said he was not bothered if more than a decade of post-Cold War rapprochement with NATO was halted. “We are ready to accept any decisions up to halting relations altogether,” he said. He also issued a chilly warning to Moldova of a military response if it followed the Georgian example of trying to regain control of its own breakaway region of Transdniester, whose rebel leadership has long been backed by Russia.

The hard-line approach was also adopted by Prime Minister Putin who said he saw no merit in joining the World Trade Organisation even though Russia has had an outstanding membership application since 1995. “We don’t feel or see any advantages from membership, if they exist at all,” he said.

While he did not formally abandon accession negotiations, Mr. Putin announced that Russia was pulling out of commitments it had signed earlier that were seen as prerequisites for membership.

So far, the international community has limited its response to Russia’s occupation of large parts of Georgia to strong words and veiled hints of further diplomatic retribution. NATO has frozen some contacts with Russia, while America has warned that Moscow’s ambitions for membership of international bodies such as the WTO were being jeopardized by the conflict.

The tough talk from the Russians, described by one Western envoy as the “bring-it-on” school of diplomacy, seemed to have some of the desired effect as Britain swiftly issued a plea to Moscow not to suspend all contacts with NATO.

So far, however, the European Union’s response has proved embarrassingly ineffective as Russia has repeatedly reneged on the terms of the truce by maintaining its military presence in Georgia. The six-point peace plan, signed by President Sarkozy of France, which currently holds the European Union’s rotating presidency, has been criticized for being imprecise, allowing Russia to exploit ambiguities over troop withdrawal.

Georgia is pressing the European Union to commit to “fully fledged peacekeeping operations.” E.U. diplomats and security officials meet in Brussels today to prepare for an emergency summit of leaders, including Prime Minister Brown, next Monday.

Georgia’s ambassador to the European Union, Salome Samadashvili, said: “We hope the meeting [on Monday]… will end with real proposals for the E.U. to take a leading role in the peace process. The first thing is to get Russian troops off our soil. The second is a peace process led by the E.U.”

In his warning to Vladimir Voronin, the President of Moldova, Mr. Medvedev said: “After the Georgian leadership lost their marbles, as they say, all the problems got worse and a military conflict erupted. This is a serious warning, a warning to all — and I believe we should handle other existing conflicts within this context.”

Russia’s parliament unanimously voted to recognize the unilaterally declared independence of Georgia’s rebel regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The British Foreign Office said the vote, which needs to be ratified by Mr. Medvedev, was a cause for “regret.”

[In related news, President Bush says Russia’s president should not recognize two breakaway regions of Georgia as independent countries despite pleas from Russian lawmakers, the associated press reported yesterday.

Mr. Bush issued a statement from his Texas ranch criticizing Russia’s parliament, which voted yesterday to urge the Kremlin to recognize the independence of two separatist Georgian regions. The White House says those two regions, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, remain part of Georgian domain.

Mr. Bush said Russia’s leadership should “not recognize these separatist regions.”

He said Georgia’s borders deserve the same respect as any countries — including Russia’s.

President Medvedev of Russia did not immediately respond to the votes of the parliament.]