MOSCOW — Russia on Thursday called on the United States to carry out a detailed investigation into allegations contained in leaked Iraq war documents published by the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.

"The US authorities bear the responsibility to conduct a thorough, independent and transparent investigation of all the reports that have appeared in the media," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

The statement pointed out that Washington regularly ticked off other countries for human rights violations and said it should live up to its own standards by investigating the allegations of abuses by troops in Iraq.

"We are convinced that such a position will demonstrate the United States' adherence to the high standards in the human rights sphere that it constantly calls on other countries to observe," it said.

The ministry called for the results of the investigation to be published and made available to human rights groups.

It expressed the hope that the US handling of the scandal would allow it to pass a "serious test" during an upcoming review by the UN Human Rights Council which evaluates respect for human rights in its member states.