WASHINGTON, October 16 (RIA Novosti) - US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said that the US army must be able to face threats coming from terrorists and insurgents as well as to "deal with" Russia's modern and capable army.
"Demands on the Army will only grow more diverse and complicated going forward. Threats from terrorists and insurgents will remain with us for a long time. But we also must deal with a revisionist Russia with its modern and capable army on NATO's doorstep," Hagel said in Washington.
This is not the first doubtful statement regarding Russia made by a Western leader in recent months.
On Wednesday, Deputy Secretary General of NATO Alexander Vershbow compared the actions of the Islamic State (IS) militant group with Russia's politics, while speaking at the Security Jam conference.
In September, during his speech at the UN General Assembly, US President Barack Obama placed Russia second on a list of key global threats, with the first place given to the spread of Ebola, and the third place – to the threat from the IS, known for killing hundreds of people and illegally occupying vast territories in the Middle East.
After Obama's address, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the "speech of a peacekeeper" did not sound convincing. Lavrov added that Russia, on the contrary, is interested in de-escalating conflicts across the world through a fair dialogue, based on equality and mutual respect.
The relations between Russia and the United States have deteriorated amid the Ukrainian crisis, as Washington kept blaming Moscow for meddling in Ukraine's internal affairs.
Over the past few months, the United States has introduced several rounds of sanctions against Russia, and persuaded its allies to hit Moscow with the restrictions of their own.
