US Vice President Joe Biden says that Moscow has no choice but to make concessions to the West, as Russia is facing a "withering" economy.

Biden told The Wall Street Journal on Friday that the worsening financial crisis in Russia will force the country to make accommodations to the West on national security issues, such as loosening its grip on former Soviet republics and shrinking its vast nuclear arsenal.

The Vice President added that he believed Russia's economic problems were part of a series of developments that have contributed to a significant rethinking by Moscow on its international policies.

He also claimed that the geographical proximity of the emerging nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea is also likely to make the Kremlin more cooperative with Washington in blocking their growth.

"I can see [Russian Prime Minister] Vladimir Putin sitting in Moscow saying, 'Jesus Christ, Iran gets the nuclear weapon, who goes first?' Moscow, not Washington," The Journal quoted the vice president as saying.

But in the interview, at the end of a four-day trip to Ukraine and Georgia, Biden said domestic troubles are the most important factor driving Russia's new global outlook.

"I think we vastly underestimate the hand that we hold," he said.

Biden's remarks are among the current US administration's most critical of Russia's role in the world, and come just weeks after President Barack Obama insisted that the US seeks a "strong, peaceful and prosperous Russia".

A spokeswoman for Russian President Dmitry Medvedev declined to comment on Biden's remarks.

Natalya Timakova however acknowledged that the Russian government is currently looking at many of the issues that Biden raised -- including economic challenges, the banking sector and the country's shrinking population.

FF/DT