Last Wednesday, Robert Gates said the United States needed sufficient forces to combat large armies and special units to fight terrorism, adding that developments in countries such as Russia, North Korea, Iran and China were unpredictable.
Mikhail Kamynin said Russia was "perplexed" by the recent statements by Gates and other high-ranking U.S. 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, WMD proliferation and so on," he said.
Kamynin said he hoped Gates' statements did not reflect U.S. policy and were mere a polemical device to pressure the U.S. Congress to approve the Pentagon's budget.
Commenting on the issue, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Friday, "In principle, as defense minister, I can understand this 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 U.S.," the minister added.
