MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia on Saturday slammed as “unacceptable” British and U.S. criticism which questioned its reliability as a partner in the G8 after its UN Security Council veto on further sanctions against Zimbabwe.

“Representatives of the United States and Britain have declared that our vote betrayed the G8 Tokyo summit accords on Zimbabwe and that this posed questions about Russia's reliability as a partner in the G8,” government spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said in a statement.
“We consider such statements unacceptable,” he added.