Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday insisted the European Union show "respect" and transparency in dealings with ex-Soviet states and criticised the bloc's policies on Ukraine.

"We're not asking for or demanding anything from our Western partners, including the EU, except an understandable, transparent policy on the CIS area, a policy based on principles of complementarity and respect for the legal interests of the countries of this area," Lavrov said, referring to ex-Soviet countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Lavrov was speaking at a foreign policy conference broadcast on television and went on to criticise a new agreement between Brussels and Ukraine on helping modernise the Ukrainian gas transit network at the centre of a dispute with Moscow in January.