THE head of Russia's powerful military intelligence agency has warned that Georgia might again attack South Ossetia, the pro-Moscow region over which the two countries fought a war last year.

Alexander Shlyakhturov, who in April took over command of the GRU - the Russian acronym for Russia's Chief Intelligence Agency, according to Reuters, said the situation was strained and accused the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) of continuing to supply arms to Georgia.

"The situation with Georgia remains tense because the current Georgian authorities do not just refuse to recognise the sovereignty of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but are trying in every way to return these countries...to their jurisdiction," he said in a rare interview with state news agency ITAR-TASS.

"You have to add to this the unpredictability of attempts by the Georgian leadership, headed by (President Mikheil) Saakashvili, which may give in to temptation to use force to tame these obstinate republics as they did last year," he said.

"We do not rule out such a development."

South Ossetia and Abkhazia broke away from Georgian government control in the early 1990s. Russia recognised both as independent states after last year's five-day war, when its forces repelled a Georgian attack on South Ossetia.

But only two other countries, Nicaragua and Venezuela, have followed Russia's lead, and the rest of the world regards the two regions as part of Georgia.

Shlyakhturov said that "new NATO members" in Eastern Europe were supplying small arms and munitions to Georgia while Israel was providing drones and Ukraine was delivering heavy artillery and anti-aircraft systems.

The GRU is Russia's biggest spy agency, with agents spread across the globe and thousands of special forces troops inside Russia. The spy service, created in 1918 under revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky, is controlled by the military general staff and reports directly to the president.

Meanwhile, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Moscow and Washington have a good chance of reaching a new nuclear arms reduction deal before year's end, but other nuclear powers must join disarmament efforts.

Medvedev also told Germany's Der Spiegel magazine he has been working well with his predecessor, Vladimir Putin, and predictions of a rift between him and Putin - widely seen as pulling the strings in Russia - are overblown. The Kremlin released a transcript of the comments.

"No one must have any doubts that our 'tandem' has been working quite harmoniously," Medvedev said. "As you can see, predictions that we will have a falling out so far have failed to materialise."

The U.S.-Russian arms control talks are moving at a good pace, Medvedev said.

"We have every chance to agree on a new treaty, determine new (weapons) levels and control measures and sign a legally binding document in the end of the year," he said in remarks released by the Kremlin.

He sounded less upbeat about the prospect of the complete abolition of nuclear weapons.

Russia and the United States both say they are committed to negotiating a successor deal to their 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. That arms reduction treaty has gradually slashed both sides' arsenals but is set to expire December 5.

In July, U.S. President Barack Obama and Medvedev agreed that the current talks should reach an accord to reduce both countries' arsenals to between 1,500 and 1,675 nuclear weapons within seven years.

Medvedev told Der Spiegel that other nuclear powers have been reluctant to join in disarmament efforts.

"A nuclear-free world is our shared ideal for which we must aspire, but a road to that is difficult," he said.

"It takes not just the United States and Russia renouncing nuclear weapons, but other countries as well."

Putin anointed Medvedev as his preferred successor and moved into the prime minister's job after the 2008 presidential election. Putin said in September that he and Medvedev would "come to an agreement" on who would run for president in the 2012 election, leading to speculation that the two would decide on a predetermined winner.

Medvedev maintained that Putin meant to say they would discuss who should run for president to "avoid elbowing each other."

"He did not say that we would decide between us who will be the next president," Medvedev said. "This would be ridiculous."

"I do not wish to one day find myself and Vladimir Putin resembling the aged leaders from the Soviet Communist Party Politburo standing on Lenin's Mausoleum in similar coats and hats."

Medvedev has championed the rule of law and civil rights, but critics say he has remained in Putin's shadow and failed to add substance to his pledges.

Medvedev told Der Spiegel that Russia could back sanctions against Iran if it fails to take a constructive stance in international talks over its nuclear programme.

The statement echoed Medvedev's earlier comments, but Putin has warned that the threat of sanctions could thwart talks. Putin also has said, however, that there is no real difference between him and Medvedev on the subject.

Asked to comment on Putin's famous remark that the Soviet collapse represented "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century," Medvedev challenged his mentor.

He said the Soviet breakup was a "serious, dramatic" event, but added that World War II and the 1917 Bolshevik revolution were real catastrophes.

Medvedev also set himself apart from Putin by sharply criticizing the rule of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

"From the point of view of the law, killing of a huge number of compatriots for political or unsubstantiated economic motives is a crime," he told Der Spiegel. "The rehabilitation of those involved in these crimes is impossible, no matter what economic achievements were made then and how well the state mechanism was built."

Putin has sidestepped discussion of Communist crimes, and critics have accused him of whitewashing history and encouraging a more positive view of Stalin. 

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