MOSCOW, November 19 (Sputnik) – US Secretary of State John Kerry told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to ignore US President Barack Obama's statement listing Russia among the worldэs main threats along with terrorism and the Ebola virus.
"I noticed the list of threats that President Obama allowed himself to say even back during his speech in the UN General Assembly… While talking with John Kerry a while ago, I asked him what this meant. He said: 'Don't pay any attention,'" Lavrov said during a meeting in the lower house of parliament.
In a speech at the G20 summit on November 15, Obama called Russia's alleged aggression toward Ukraine a "threat to the world," echoing his UN General Assembly speech made in late September, in which he listed Russia among the gravest global threats along with the Ebola virus and the rise of terrorism in Iraq and Syria.
Lavrov previously noted that Obama's statement does not reflect the perception of Russia in the world, saying such a viewpoint is a distortion of reality that is beyond reason.
Relations between Russia and the United States have soured in light of the Ukrainian crisis, with the United States and other Western countries accusing Moscow of interfering in Ukraine's internal affairs.
Russia has repeatedly denied its involvement in the conflict, but the West has nevertheless imposed several rounds of sanctions, targeting certain high-ranking officials as well as the country's energy, defense and banking sectors.
