Russia hit back on Friday at US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's accusation that Moscow was politically motivated in its dispute with Ukraine over gas supply.

Rice said earlier this week that Moscow was "politically motivated" to demand a quadrupling of the gas price for Ukraine and doubted Russia as a responsible actor in the international economy.

Moscow was surprised by the tone of Rice's remark regarding the Russia-Ukraine natural gas price dispute, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"We cannot agree with the US secretary of state's view that Russia's steps disaccorded with its status of a member of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations that took the group's presidency on Jan. 1," the statement said.

The ministry dismissed as groundless Rice's claim that Russia is not yet prepared to behave responsibly as an energy supplier.

"The bilateral agreements reached at Russia's initiative with Ukraine lays a firm foundation for stable supply of Russian gas to Europe on a long term and are an important contribution to the European continent's energy security," it said.

Earlier, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said in response to Rice's remarks that Russia considered its gas supply to Ukraine a bilateral affair.

Russia and Ukraine struck a five-year deal on gas supply on Wednesday. Under the deal, Russia will sell gas for US$230 per 1,000 cubic meters to the Rosukrenergo trading company, which will mix Russian gas with cheaper gas from Central Asia and sell the blend to Ukraine for US$95 per 1,000 cubic meters.

Ukraine had been buying Russian gas at US$50 per 1,000 cubic meters over the past year.

(Xinhua News Agency January 7, 2006)