MELBOURNE, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Russia's ambassador to Australia has warned the country not to pull out of a deal to sell nuclear fuel to Moscow, after Australia said it was reconsidering in light of Russia's military incursion into Georgia. In comments reported in The Age and the Australian Financial Review newspapers, the ambassador, Alexander Blokhin, was quoted as saying there was no connection between the events in the Caucasus region and the uranium deal. "If this agreement is not ratified, in that case we could regard it as an obviously politically biased decision which could harm the economic interest of Australia as well," Blokhin was quoted as saying through an interpreter. Australia's previous conservative government agreed in September last year to expand a small-scale 1990 deal to sell uranium to Russia and said stringent controls would ensure uranium was not used in nuclear weapons. But lawmakers considering whether the treaty should enter into force said on Monday that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was now unlikely to abide by the terms of the treaty and safeguards for the use of Australian uranium in Russia's civilian nuclear industry. ($1=A$1.17) (Reporting by Victoria Thieberger; Editing by James Thornhill)
A girl with a Georgian flag takes part in a demonstration in support of Georgia in central Kiev September 1, 2008. The European Union will warn Russia on Monday that Moscow's ...
