Russia could have its sights set on Ukraine and Moldova after recognising the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Wednesday.
"It's very dangerous. Thre are other objectives that one can suppose are the objectives of Russia, in particular Crimea, Ukraine and Moldova," he told Europe 1 radio station.
Some analysts say that Russian troops might target the southern Ukrainian region of Crimea if President Viktor Yushchenko continues to openly support Tbilisi in the Georgia-Russia conflict and continues to push for North Atlantic Treaty Organization membership.
Crimea, which is populated mostly by ethnic Russians, is home to the port of Sevastopol where Russia's Black Sea fleet has been based since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The Molodovan region of Transdniestr, which lies in the east of the country adjoining Ukraine, fought a brief independence war after the Soviet Union's collapse but isn't internationally recognized.
It hosts a contingent of Russian troops and a Soviet-era arms dump.