Moscow asks US to explain Gates' remarks on Russia

By Staff
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Moscow, Feb 13 (UNI) Russia has sought an explanation from the United States on the remarks made last week by the US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, about the ''unpredictability'' of the situations in the former country.

''Acting through the US Ambassador here, we have demanded a clarification of the extent to which Robert Gates' remarks match the official position of the US administration,'' the official spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Mikhail Kamynin said in a statement.

Mr Gates said last Wednesday that the US needed sufficient forces to combat large armies and special units to fight terrorism, adding developments in countries such as Russia, North Korea, Iran and China were ''unpredictable''.

Mr Kamynin said Russia was ''surprised'' by the recent statements by Mr Gates and other high-ranking US officials and intelligence officers, saying they implied a ''negative assessment'' of Russia.

''We proceed from the assumption that our relations are based on mutual interest and the consolidation of our strategic partnership, above all, in the joint fight against real threats to the global order, international terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), among others,'' he stressed.

Mr Kamynin expressed the hope that Gates' statements did not reflect US policy and were merely a polemical device to pressure the US Congress to approve the Pentagon's budget.

Meanwhile, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said, ''In principle, as Defence Minister, I can understand Gates' statement.

All sorts of tricks are used to approve the budget.'' ''As far as predictability is concerned, I believe that Russia is as predictable as the US,'' Mr Ivanov said.

UNI

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