RUSSIA delivered Australia a stern warning last night not to pull out of its deal to sell the former superpower uranium worth an estimated $1 billion a year.

Russia's intervention came after Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Australia would take into account Russia's aggression in Georgia before signing off on the deal, and a Labor MP warned that Russian strongman Vladimir Putin could not be trusted with Australian uranium.

"If you've looked on the TV into Vladimir Putin's eyes - he is one tough son of a gun and I don't think that he cares about what we think," said Kelvin Thomson, who chairs Federal Parliament's treaties committee.

"I think that we could supply uranium to him and if he changed his mind about the uses to which he was going to put it, I don't think we'd have any effective comeback at all."

Last night, Russian ambassador Alexander Blokhin hit back, warning the Rudd Government not to renege on the deal, signed by former prime minister John Howard and Mr Putin during APEC last September.

"If this agreement is not ratified, in that case we could regard it as an obviously politically biased decision, which could harm the economic interest of Australia as well," Mr Blokhin said through an interpreter.

"We do not see any connection between the events in the Caucasus region and the uranium deal. These are completely separate things."

The nuclear safeguards agreement allows the export of Australian uranium to Russia for use in its rapidly expanding civilian nuclear power program.

Opponents fear Australian yellowcake could be used in Russia weapons or resold to close Russian allies Iran and Syria.

Mr Smith said when the Government was considering ratifying the agreement it would take into account not just the merits of the agreement, but events in Georgia.

During the Olympics, Russian troops crossed into the disputed Georgian territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, drawing condemnation from the West, and prompting fears of rising Russian influence in former Soviet states.

Mr Smith said he had already passed on Australia's concerns about Russia's events in Georgia to the ambassador.

Mr Thomson said the Government should consider delaying ratification of the deal until after the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was reviewed in 2010.

The treaties committee examines agreements before they are ratified to ensure they are fair and in Australia's interests.

Mr Smith said the Government would be interested in the committee's views and would take its report into account.

But he emphasised that he considered the safeguards built into the agreement more than adequate. "The Government believes that the agreement meets Australia's longstanding safeguards requirements and promotes the highest international standards in this area, including involvement and oversight by the international regulator, the International Atomic Energy Agency," Mr Smith said.

Mr Putin said in Canberra last year that the Australian uranium would not be used in nuclear weapons or sold to other countries for use in bombs.

Despite the war of words, experts said it was extremely unlikely Russia would use Australian uranium in nuclear weapons.

The head of the Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office, John Carlson, said: "Australian uranium won't be used for weapons because Russia has such an enormous surplus there's no reason why it would even think of doing so."

The Bulletin of American Scientists said that last year Russia had 5670 operational nuclear warheads and 9300 warheads in reserve or awaiting dismantlement.

Strategic analyst Rory Medcalf of the Lowy Institute said that, if Australia wanted to stick its neck out, it could use the uranium deal to put pressure on the Kremlin to change its behaviour in areas such as Georgia.

Mr Medcalf said that if Australia pulled out of the deal it could damage its reputation as a reliable supplier and send a signal to countries such as China that could damage Australia's interests.

"If we are going to show ourselves as an unreliable uranium supplier are we also going to show ourselves as an unreliable gas supplier. Where do you stop?"

Australia's trade relationship with Russia has jumped sharply in recent years, to almost $800 million in 2007.

The Rudd Government has resisted selling to uranium to India because, unlike Russia, it is not a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.