"We view this decision by President George W. Bush... as mistaken and politicised," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Washington's decision "is a blow to our interaction and blocks the way to mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation in many civilian nuclear areas," the statement said.

The agreement aimed to allow US and Russian companies to form joint ventures in the nuclear sector and gave the go-ahead for exchanges of nuclear technology between the two countries, according to officials on both sides.

Russia rejected Bush's linkage of the decision to Moscow's military surge into Georgia, saying the freezing of the cooperation pact would hurt the United States as much as it would hurt Russia.

"Clearly the withdrawal of this agreement from the US Congress will be interpreted as a 'punishment' or 'limitation' imposed on Russia. But we are unconvinced by such interpretations.

"The agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation is in equal measure profitable for Russia and the United States, meaning that the American nuclear sector will suffer... no less than the Russian side," the statement said.