The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that a decision by the U.S. to freeze a civil nuclear agreement with Russia was a politically motivated mistake.

U.S. President George Bush withdrew the deal from U.S. Congress amid international condemnation of Russia''s actions in the recent Georgian crisis.

"We view the steps made by the U.S. administration as a straightforward breach of its commitments, which harms our partnership relations and closes the route to mutually beneficial cooperation on many issues in the sphere of civilian nuclear power," the statement said.

It said Washington''s attempts to impose its actions on other countries in their relations with Russia were "unacceptable," adding that the withdrawal "will be interpreted as ''punishment'' or ''control'' with regard to Russia."

The news was announced on Monday by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who said in a statement, "We make this decision with regret. Unfortunately, given the current environment, the time is not right for this agreement."

And U.S. State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack said that the U.S. had "deep concerns about Russian behavior."