Kremlin perplexed by Obama's UN speech about Russia threat

The Kremlin is puzzled with US President Barack Obama’s speech at the UN General Assembly earlier this week ranking Russia second among the top international threats, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said on Friday.

In his 40-minute address on Wednesday, Obama cited the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Russia’s “aggression” in eastern Ukraine and the threats of the Islamic State group in the Middle East as the greatest threats to the international order that require collective attention and action.


“I think this looks rather strange,” Ushakov said, commenting on Obama’s speech.
“When the US president ranks the so-called Russian ‘aggression’ in Europe among other challenges to international security, the Ebola fever virus and the actions of terrorists, I should say that I can’t remember that Obama’s predecessors characterized Russia’s role and place in the international affairs this way,” he added.
Following Obama’s speech, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the US leader has failed to convey a peacemaking message as he continued accusing Moscow of interfering into the Ukrainian conflict.
“Number one is the Ebola virus, number two is the so-called Russian aggression in Europe and ISIL and other terrorists who are now taking hold of the Middle East and primarily of the countries, which have evidenced US interventions, are ranked as number three.”
Lavrov said that in his speech, Obama presented the worldview of a country that “has spelt out its right to use force arbitrarily regardless of the UN Security Council’s resolutions or other international legal acts in its national defense doctrine.”
“That’s why the speech of a peacemaker - the way it was conceived - failed to deliver if one compares it to real facts,” he said.
The Russian top diplomat said Moscow seeks to settle conflicts through a fair, equal and respectful dialogue and not through unilateral accusations or shifting the blame.

Russia has repeatedly dismissed the claims of its involvement in the Ukrainian crisis and made every effort to ensure the de-escalation of the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled a peace plan on the Ukrainian conflict just two days before a ceasefire for the east was agreed during the OSCE-mediated talks in the Belarusian capital Minsk on September 5.
http://en.itar-tass.com/russia/751478
26/9/14
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