Vice-president VS beschuldigt Rusland van chantage met energiebronnen (en)

US vice-president Dick Cheney has delivered the Bush administration's strongest criticism of Russia to date, saying resident Vladimir Putin's regime has "unfairly and improperly restricted the rights of her people" and accusing Kremlin of turning oil and gas into "tools of intimidation or blackmail".

The extraordinarily harsh attack was delivered in a speech on Thursday (4 May) at a high-level conference of east European leaders in Lithuania's capital, Vilnius.

"In many areas of civil society - from religion and the news media, to advocacy groups and political parties - the government has unfairly and improperly restricted the rights of her [Russia's] people", Mr Cheney said.

"No legitimate interest is served when oil and gas become tools of intimidation or blackmail, either by supply manipulation or attempts to monopolize transportation," he added.

Russia is the world's largest producer of natural gas and is number two in oil after Saudi Arabia.

For Europe, Russia's energy deliveries are vital, but state gas monopoly Gazprom recently threatened to shift gas supplies from the EU to North America or China while Semyon Vainshtok, chief of the Russian pipeline monopolist Transneft, last week threatened that Moscow could do the same with crude oil.

Mr Cheney also suggested in his speech that Russia seeks to undermine its neighbours.

"No one can justify actions that undermine the territorial integrity of a neighbour, or interfere with democratic movements," he said.

The remarks were followed up by Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili.

Democracy in Georgia and Ukraine is under threat because Russia is creating obstacles to democratic processes in the countries, he was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.

"If Moscow creates obstacles to our democratic values it means only escalating danger," Mr Saakashvili said.

He added that a threat to democracies in Georgia and Ukraine would also undermine European interests in the region.

Washington's rebuke comes at a time when the US is seeking Russia's help in putting pressure on Tehran to give up its nuclear programme.

The leaders of the two world powers are scheduled to meet in July at the G8 summit in St. Petersburg, although some of US president George Bush's conservative party members have called for him to boycott the meeting in protest to President Putin's policies.