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Medvedev:Ukraine endangers gas supplies
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-12 00:36

MOSCOW:Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has lashed out at Ukraine's leaders, accusing the country of endangering European gas supplies and saying Russia won't send a new ambassador until relations improve.

In a letter to Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko released Tuesday by the Kremlin, Medvedev also criticizes Yushchenko's push to make Ukraine a NATO member and his support for an Orthodox church outside Moscow's control.

Russia and Ukraine have had troubled relations for years, but the new criticism was unusual for its strong language and its length.

It comes five months before Ukraine's presidential elections, and Medvedev clearly hopes Yushchenko will lose his bid for a second term.

Russia-Ukraine relations "will resume on a fundamentally different level _ that of strategic partnership _ and this moment will not be long in coming," Medvedev said in a "video blog" posted on the Kremlin Web site in which he comments on the letter to Yushchenko. "I hope that the new leadership of Ukraine will be ready for the breakthrough."

Such a comment could raise anger in Ukraine if it is seen as an attempt by Russia to interfere in Ukraine's internal affairs.

Russia openly supported Yushchenko's opponent, Viktor Yanukovych, in the 2004 elections that were annulled after the huge "Orange Revolution" street demonstrations protesting vote fraud. Yushchenko won the rerun.

Ukraine offered no official reaction to Medvedev's statements.

Ukraine is the main transit country for Europe-bound Russian natural gas, and political tensions aggravate gas price disputes. In a dispute this winter, Russia suspended deliveries through Ukraine for two weeks.

Medvedev, in the letter, decried "the gathering impression that Kiev is consistently seeking a rupture in forming economic ties with Russia, especially in the energy sector.

"As a result, the stable use by our countries of the ... unified gas transportation system that guarantees the energy security of Russia, Ukraine and many European states is placed under threat."

The Russian president also accused Yushchenko of stirring up anti-Russian sentiment to justify his efforts to gain NATO membership and of interfering with the operations of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, which is based in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol.

Ukraine ordered two Russian diplomats to leave last month to protest weapons movements by the Black Sea Fleet that Ukraine said were not permitted.