Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko has rejected Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's claims that he, Yuschenko, conducts anti-Russian policies, while describing the tone of the Russian president's address as unfriendly.

"I'll be open - I'm very disappointed with its [the statement's] unfriendly tone," he said in his response to Medvedev, which was posted on the Ukrainian president's official Web site on Thursday.

Yuschenko also posted practically the same text in an address to the Ukrainian people.

"I can agree with the fact that there are serious problems in relations between our countries, but it's surprising when the Russian president completely denies that Russia shares responsibility for this," he said.

He said that Ukraine had "never abandoned the principles of friendship and partnership, stipulated in the 1997 Grand Treaty, and has done all it can for the fruitful and mutually beneficial development of bilateral relations."

"Ukraine's position in respect to last year's developments in Georgia is well-known and it coincides with the positions adopted by nearly all countries. It lies in the exclusive respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of the frontiers of Georgia and other sovereign states. Claims about [illegal] arms supplies to Georgia are groundless as well," Yuschenko said.

He expressed regret that "despite repeated clear explanations from the Ukrainian side regarding the legality of its actions on the arms market, the Russian side is continuing a consistent campaign aimed at branding Ukraine as a state that does not observe international rules and regimes in the sphere of military and technical cooperation."

Yuschenko said that Georgia has not been, and is not, subject to any international sanctions or embargos by the UN Security Council, the OSCE, the European Union, or other international organizations on the supplies of arms, military equipment or dual-purpose goods.

"Moreover, Russian proposals to impose such restrictions within the OSCE, which were submitted after the Russian-Georgian conflict, found no support," he said.