Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili accused Russia on Friday of using price hikes for gas to influence Ukraine and his country as the two former Soviet republics build stronger relations with Europe.

Russian gas titan Gazprom has recently concluded a contract with Georgia to sell gas at 110 U.S. dollars per 1,000 cubic meters in 2006, instead of the 63 dollars Georgia is paying now.

"What is happening now in relation to Georgia and Ukraine is a response to the fact that Georgia and Ukraine have a good chance to become real European countries, and therefore virtually all levers have been employed," Saakashvili said on Georgian television, according to the Interfax news agency.

"Russia has become more aggressive in its foreign policy today because the prices of oil and gas have grown," Saakashvili said.

Gazprom has asked Ukraine, where President Viktor Yushchenko has made membership in NATO and the European Union a strategic goal of his country, to pay more than quadruple the current price of 50 U.S. dollars per 1,000 cubic meters.

The two countries are locked in a tense impasse over gas supply that could see Russia shut the gas taps for Ukraine on Jan. 1 if no deal is clinched by then.

The gas row has also sparked European concerns of a disruption of gas flow as most of its gas supply from Russia is transited through a Ukrainian pipeline.

Source: Xinhua