Independence movements and Russian-speaking populations in portions of those nations create possibilities for Moscow involvement, the EU Observer reported Thursday.

"I repeat, it (Russia's action in Georgia) is very dangerous and there are other objectives that one can suppose are objectives for Russia, in particular the Crimea, Ukraine and Moldova," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Wednesday on Europe 1 radio, echoing remarks by British Foreign Minister David Miliband in Ukraine.

Both countries have broken from the Russian sphere of influence in recent years and sought integration with NATO and the European Union. But 58 percent of people are ethnically Russian in Ukraine's Crimean area, which also houses the Russian Black Sea fleet. Moldova's Transniestria region has had virtual independence since a 1992 civil war and houses 1,300 Russian troops, the EU Observer said.

Meanwhile another Russian-backed breakaway republic, Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan, on Wednesday reportedly put out its own warning that any threat to its independence would end in a Georgia-like "humanitarian catastrophe," the EU Observer reported. Azerbaijan is a growing exporter of oil and natural gas to Europe via a pipeline bypassing Russia.