Ukraina valde Ryssland före EU - stora protester som följd, länkar i inlägg2

Lukashenko, who is running for a fourth term in polls slated for Dec. 19, might have just intended a bit of Russia-bashing for domestic consumption by complaining of the "flow of unscrupulous lies, disinformation, and utter nonsense" about Belarus in the Russian media and suggesting that Kremlin leaders "don't know very much, or maybe they're just not interested."

But it drew a furious reaction (watch English video here) from Mr. Medvedev, who suggested on his weekly videoblog that the days of Russian subsidies to Belarus – estimated to be worth around $8 billion annually – may be over.

"[Lukashenko] seemed to have forgotten that Russia does not bargain away its principles," Medvedev said. "This sort of behavior is dishonest. It certainly does not befit a partner and we will take it into account when planning our future relations with Belarus."

The significance of Russia's absorption of Crimea has not been lost on the fellow Slavic nation of Belarus whose cities of Gomel, Mogilyov and Vitebsk were once part of the republic of Soviet Russia under the USSR.

Since the start of the crisis, the country's authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko has been manoeuvering to hedge his bets and remain on good terms with Moscow, agreeing to station additional Russian fighter jets in his country.

But just like Ukraine, Belarus in 1994 signed the so-called Budapest memorandum, renouncing its military nuclear capability in exchange for security guarantees from Russia, the United States and Britain.

"Where can we, poor Belarussians, hide from such a 'friend?'," said former Belarussian lawmaker and political analyst Andrei Klimov, referring to Russia.

The attitude of even close allies within the former USSR has been of extreme caution.

The energy-rich Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan acknowledged the results of the referendum in Crimea, where a majority of the population voted to split from Ukraine and join Russia, but President Nursultan Nazarbayev has not so far made any public comments on Moscow's takeover of the peninsula.

President Serzh Sarkisian of Armenia, which last year said it would join Moscow-led customs union, agreed that people have a right to self-determination but stopped short of endorsing Russia's takeover of Crimea.

Many analysts said the seizure of the peninsula dealt a huge blow to Moscow's ties with ex-Soviet allies.

In 2011, Putin unveiled a grand plan to build on the experience of the European Union and integrate post-Soviet states into a economic zone on the basis of Moscow's customs union together with Kazakhstan and Belarus.

"There won't be any integration with Kazakhstan and Belarus when Russia is capable of seizing territory from other countries," said Nikolai Petrov, a professor at the Higher School of Economics.

Shots were fired but there were no casualties as the Ukrainian corvette Khmelnitsky was seized in Sevastopol, according to an AP photographer at the scene. Another ship, the Lutsk, was also surrounded by pro-Russian forces.

The Defense Ministry had no immediate information on the incidents.

Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Leonid Polyakov accused Russian troops of constantly threatening to storm military bases where Ukrainian soldiers were located, according to the Interfax news agency.

In Geneva, Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations warned of a sharp deterioration in relations between the two neighbors, saying that Russia appears to be preparing for a military "invasion" in more areas of his country.

Ambassador Yuri Klymenko said there were "indications that Russia is on its way to unleash a full-blown military invention in Ukraine's east and south" since its annexation of Crimea. He said his statement was based on information from non-governmental organizations.