Ukraine and Moldova are both vulnerable, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said as Russia shrugged off a welter of condemnation from the West with even China saying it was concerned at Russia’s actions.

Russia has breached international law by recognising the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Kouchner said in a French radio interview.

“It’s very dangerous. There are other objectives that one can suppose are the objectives of Russia, in particular Crimea, Ukraine and Moldova,” Kouchner declared.

On a visit to Kiev, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband warned the Ukraine government against provoking Russia.

He said Ukraine must act “not to provide any pretext for Russian actions because of course the Russians have used those pretexts in the Georgian case and it’s important to not repeat that.”

The southern Ukrainian region of Crimea is mainly populated by ethnic Russians and houses the Russian Black Sea fleet at Sevastopol.

Transdniestr, in eastern Moldova, fought a brief independence war after the Soviet Union’s collapse but is not internationally recognised. It hosts a contingent of Russian troops.

The European Union should clearly support Ukraine’s membership of the bloc to prevent it from becoming a Russian target, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said.

“Ukraine could be the next target of political pressure by Russia, whose doctrine on its nearby neighbours is reminiscent of sphere politics,” Rehn said in a speech to Finnish ambassadors.

The Georgian conflict was a stark reminder that Russia is the EU’s biggest foreign policy challenge, he said.

China became the latest major power to express worry about events in Georgia.

“China is concerned of the latest development in South Ossetia and Abkhazia,” the official Xinhua news agency quoted foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang as saying.

China had avoided taking a public stand on the war, but China’s President Hu Jintao met with Medvedev on Wednesday in Dushanbe ahead of a Central Asian summit.

The United States has taken a lead role against Russia, sending warships with aid to Georgia and taking part in NATO naval exercises in the Black Sea.

U.S. President George W. Bush demanded Russia reverse its “irresponsible decision” to recognise South Ossetia and Abkhazia. He warned that “Russia’s action only exacerbates tensions and complicates diplomatic negotiations” on Georgia.

The European Union is to hold a special summit on the Georgia crisis in Brussels on Monday and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who brokered a Russia-Georgia ceasefire as current president of the EU, called on Russia to pull back its forces to positions they held before the conflict.

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