Russia says new U.S. military strategy is confrontational

MOSCOW - Reuters

CİHAN photo

Russia said on July 2 a new U.S. military strategy was confrontational and would not help improve relations with Moscow, strained by the crisis in Ukraine.

The strategy, released by the Pentagon on July 1, said  Russia had repeatedly demonstrated it does not respect the sovereignty of its neighbours and that it was willing to use force to achieve its goals. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed regret about the content of the document and said it indicated a "confrontational attitude, devoid of any objectivity towards our country". 

"Of course this will hardly contribute to attempts to steer bilateral relations in the direction of normalisation," he told reporters during a conference call. 

Relations between Moscow and the West are at their lowest point since the end of the Cold War, mainly because of the crisis in Ukraine. 

The United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on Russia after it seized the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine last year and have accused it of providing pro-Russian separatists in east Ukraine with weapons and soldiers. 

"Russia's military actions are undermining regional security directly and through proxy forces," the new National Military Strategy of the United States said. 

Moscow denies sending troops and arms to the separatists in a conflict in which more than 6,400 people have been killed and accuses the West of plotting a coup d'etat to topple a Ukrainian president backed by Moscow in February 2014.