The Russians "have no reason to consider us a threat. We are not looking for conflict with Russia," Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters on Monday, commenting on Moscow's updated National Security Strategy.
"We have our differences… but it's fundamentally wrong to look at the United States as a threat to Russia," he added.
Carter, Dunford and others in Pentagon have all said Russia is the top existential threat to the US. So…. https://t.co/rf175RUZFq
— Aaron Mehta (@AaronMehta) 4 января 2016
On Monday, Dunford, who is on a visit to Europe, reiterated that the Russians were a challenge to Washington and its partners "based on their behavior, based on their capabilities – nuclear, cyber, conventional – based on the threat to our allies."
On New Year's Eve, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the revised document, which listed the US and the expansion of NATO as posing a threat to Russia's national security.
"Expanding the force potential of NATO and endowing it with global functions which are implemented in violation of international legal norms, the block's military activation, its continued expansion, and the approach of its military infrastructure to Russian borders, all create a threat to national security," the document stated.
