Russia's Medvedev tells Romney to 'use head'

MOSCOW - Agence France- Presse

Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev delivers a speech during the "Euro-Atlantic Security Community: Myth or Reality?" conference in Moscow March 23, 2012. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told Mitt Romney today to use his head and stop reverting to Hollywood stereotypes after the US presidential hopeful branded Moscow as Washington's top foe.
 
"I recommend that all US presidential candidates, including the candidate you mention (Romney), do at least two things," Russian news agencies quoted Medvedev as telling a reporter on the sidelines of a nuclear security conference in Seoul.
 
"That they use their head and consult their reason when they formulate their positions, and that they check the time -- it is now 2012, not the mid-1970s," said the outgoing Russian president.
 
Medvedev said Romney's quip "smelled of Hollywood" because it typecast Moscow as Washington's main enemy from the Cold War era just like in the popular spy movie thrillers of the time.
 
"As for ideological cliches, I always get nervous when one side or the other starts using phrases such as 'enemy number one' and so on," Medvedev said.
 
Romney had roundly criticised Obama on Monday for getting caught by an open mike making a controversial promise to Medvedev about missile defence.
 
Obama appeared to suggest at the Seoul meeting that he was ready to make a concession on the issue if he wins the November presidential election.
 
Romney told CNN in a transcript released by the station that Obama should understand that "Russia is not a friendly character on the world stage" because it has old ties to the governments of Syria and Iran.
 
Russia "is without question our number one geopolitical foe," said Romney.