Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, commenting on the Russia-Georgia conflict, has accused the United States of making a "serious blunder" in pursuing its interest in the Caucasus region.

He also said the US charge that Russia was committing aggression in Georgia was "not just hypocritical but shows a lack of humanity".

"By declaring the Caucasus, a region that is thousands of miles from the American continent, a sphere of its 'national interest,' the United States made a serious blunder," Gorbachev said in an opinion piece to be published in the Washington Post on Tuesday.