VILNIUS, Lithuania (KNX)  -- Vice President Dick Cheney had some tough words for Russia during his current tour of Lithuania. Cheney said Vladimir Putin's Russia is restricting the rights of its citizens and proclaimed that "no legitimate interest is served'' by turning energy resources into implements of blackmail.

"In Russia today, opponents of reform are seeking to reverse the gains of the last decade,'' Cheney told a conference of Eastern European leaders whose countries once lived under Soviet oppression, and now in Russia's shadow.

Overall, Cheney had praise for the progress countries in eastern Europe have made toward Democracy since the 1989 collapse of the Soviet Union.

But he added that Russia has some choices to make in the area of reform, saying "from religion and the news media to advocacy groups and political parties, the government has unfairly and improperly restricted the rights of the people.''

"And no one can justify actions that undermine the territorial integrity of a neighbor, or interfere with democratic movements.''

The remarks were uncharacteristically strong considering that the And no one can justify actions that undermine the territorial integrity of a neighbor, or interfere with democratic movements.''

Russia rattled nerves across Europe last winter when the state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom cut off supplies of natural gas to Ukraine.