Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, speaking before a visit to Paris on Monday, criticized France's support for the Syrian opposition and accused European Union leaders of indecisiveness in dealing with the region's economic crisis.
France became the first European power to recognize Syria's new opposition coalition as the sole representative of its people and said on November 13 it would look into arming rebels against President Bashar al-Assad once they formed a government.
Medvedev, who stepped down as president in May to make way for Vladimir Putin, said such a decision was "unacceptable".
"The desire to change a political regime in another state through recognition of some political force as the sole sovereign representative seems to me not entirely civilized," Medvedev told French journalists in an interview cleared for publication on Monday.
Medvedev echoed Putin's statements that Russia takes a neutral stance and is not seeking to prop up Assad, saying that "Russia supports neither Assad's regime nor the opposition."
"But ... the question is how right it is to ... decide to support another political force if that political force is in direct confrontation with the officially recognized government of another country. And from the point of view of international law, it seems to me that is absolutely unacceptable."
Russia and France have been sharply at odds over Syria during a conflict activists say has killed more than 38,000 people since protests began in March 2011. France and other Western states have criticized Russia for vetoing three U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed to pressure Assad.
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