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Russia Wants the U.S. to Explain
Acting via the U.S. ambassador to Moscow, Russia’s Foreign Ministry demanded from the United States to clarify official position of the Bush administration concerning the statement of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
When addressing the House Armed Services Committee February 8, Robert Gates urged legislators to step up military budget to be ready for a large-scale war. In addition to Iran and North Korea, Gates named China and Russia as potential enemies.
“We don't know what's going to develop in places like Russia and China, in North Korea, in Iran and elsewhere," Gates said, specifying the United States needs both special troops to fight terrorists and ground troops capable of fighting big regular armies.
In its statement, the RF Foreign Ministry drew attention to the recent rhetoric of high-ranked officials of Pentagon and intelligence service of the United States, which appears to form a system of negative assessments of Russia. The only issue is to what extent this rhetoric reflects the actual policy of the United States, the ministry said.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry hoped Robert Gates was, perhaps, just carried away by polemic when defending to legislators another military budget that Pentagon requested in size of no precedent.
www.kommersant.com
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