SHANNON (Reuters) -- U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney took Russia to task again on Sunday as he ended a tour of ex-communist states making the transition to democracy. Heading home from visits to Lithuania, Kazakhstan and Croatia, Cheney said he heard repeated concerns about Russia's "internal developments" as well as its use of energy resources to "obtain leverage" over its neighbors.

He insisted, however, that Russia had nothing to fear from NATO, which has expanded eastwards since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and should welcome the establishment of stable democracies on its borders. The vice-president's plane touched down briefly at Shannon airport in Ireland on its way back to Washington.

Amid concern about the repercussions of the U.S. criticism, Cheney dismissed the notion that Russia would retaliate by hardening its position at the United Nations against a U.S.-led push for new measures against Iran over its nuclear ambitions. Russia responded angrily on Thursday after Cheney told Baltic and Black Sea leaders in Vilnius that Russian President Vladimir Putin was backsliding on democracy and using energy reserves to "blackmail" Moscow's neighbors."

The Boston Globe