In Obama's Footsteps: Pence Listing Russia as Key Threat 'Regrettable' - MP

US Vice President Mike Pence's statement, in which he named Russia, Iran and terrorism as today's primary security concerns, was disappointing and reflects the current US administration's inability to chart its own course with regard to foreign affairs, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the Federation Council said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — While addressing the alliance awards meeting on Monday, Pence said that the main security concerns were Russia’s alleged attempts "to redraw international borders by force," Iran’s actions that reportedly leading to destabilization in the Middle East, and the global threat of terrorism.

"The statements of US Vice President Mike Pence that Russia, Iran and terrorism are the main threats in the world are disappointing and regrettable. They demonstrate the Donald Trump's administration is either incompetent or follows the trodden path of their predecessors," Konstantin Kosachev posted on his Facebook page.

Kosachev stressed that putting terrorism alongside two states that fight against it on a list of threats is an "absurd apotheosis" that has no other meaning that of propaganda.

NATO has been boosting its military buildup in Eastern Europe, citing Russia's alleged meddling in the the Ukrainian crisis in 2014. Following the July 2016 summit, the alliance announced that it would deploy four multinational battalions to Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland. Moscow has repeatedly refuted the claims regarding Ukraine and stated that NATO’s military boosting near its borders was provocative and could lead to regional and global destabilization.