MOSCOW, Sept 11: Russia condemned on Thursday the “unfriendly” stance of Ukraine over the war in Georgia and its treatment of ethnic Russians, fuelling tensions in what is feared could be the region’s next flashpoint.

In a strongly worded statement, the foreign ministry accused Kiev’s pro-Western leadership of helping to arm Georgia and criticised its decision to restrict Russia’s Black Sea fleet, based in Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula.

“Ukrainian authorities have recently been pursuing policies that cannot be seen as anything other than unfriendly towards Russia,” the statement said.

Western officials have expressed concern that ex-Soviet Ukraine’s large ethnic Russian population could leave it exposed to a similar intervention.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sought on Thursday to reassure the West that Ukraine and other former Soviet states had nothing to fear.

“We do not have any desire or basis for infringing the sovereignty of former Soviet republics,” the Russian leader said in the southern resort of Sochi.

But Russia said it was defending Russian citizens when it sent in troops to halt a Georgian offensive into the Moscow-backed breakaway region of South Ossetia in August, a move described by Tbilisi as a de facto annexation.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner warned last month that Russia could turn its attention to the Crimea.

“Russia is not yet reconciled to the new map of this region,” agreed British Foreign Secretary David Miliband in a trip last month to Kiev.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko last month earned Russia’s wrath by imposing restrictions on the Russian fleet, requiring ships to seek permission at least 72 hours prior to crossing the Ukrainian border.

That move, which came after the fleet took up positions off the coast of Georgia, “damaged the atmosphere of our relations,” the Russian foreign ministry statement said.

Officials in Yushchenko’s administration have repeatedly said the fleet must withdraw by the end of the current lease, in 2017. Russia has condemned the calls, describing the fleet as “a stabilising factor.” The base is seen as a sticking point in Yushchenko’s stated aim of joining Nato -- an ambition vehemently opposed by Moscow.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ogryzko said last week that Russia was moving to expand its influence in Crimea by giving out Russian passports, repeating a policy used extensively in the Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, both now recognised as independent states by Moscow.

“The rights of the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine are being abused and there is a policy targeted at excluding the Russian language from the public life of the country,” the Russian foreign ministry statement warned.

Russia said Ukraine had blood on its hand for siding with the pro-Western government in Georgia in last month’s five-day conflict.

“We have not heard words of pity or compassion on the death of civilians in Tskhinvali and of Russian peacekeepers,” the foreign ministry statement said, accusing Ukraine of supplying Georgia with “heavy weaponry.”

“On the contrary, the Ukrainian president has tried to blame Russia for the bloodshed,” it said.

“We hope that the wise Ukrainian people... do not allow the worsening of relations with Russia.” The appeal comes with Ukraine’s politicians divided more than ever since the Georgia crisis and is targeted at a population split between those who look to the West for the future and those who look back towards Moscow.

People in the southeast of Ukraine are mainly Russian-speaking, while those in the northwest predominantly speak Ukrainian and are more oriented towards integration with the West.—AFP