Russia-obsessed Western elites acting like delinquents – Kremlin

Some Western leaders are so obsessed with sticking it to Moscow that they’re behaving like delinquent youths who have no regard for the consequences of their actions, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has said.

He made the comment in an extensive interview with TASS on Friday, during which he discussed the poor state of US-Russia relations. Washington and its allies are “prepared to balance on the edge of direct armed conflict with us,” even though it undermines their national security, he added.

”There are plenty of people among those in power in the US and other key Western states, who are de facto provocateurs. They’ve made testing Moscow’s resolve the goal of their existence,” Ryabkov said.

Such individuals are political bullies, he added, describing them using a Russian term for delinquents and members of teen gangs who reject any kind of rules. They are preoccupied with crossing any red line drawn by Moscow, regardless of the risk of this brinkmanship, said the minister.

Americans, in particular, seem to be hell-bent on irritating Russia, he claimed.

”As they please their own geopolitical notions, they bring closer the phase, in which holding control of events and preventing a catastrophic collapse would be very difficult,” said Ryabkov. “They live in a bubble and do not perceive outside signals that go against their preconceptions.”

The Russian diplomatic corps is therefore severely limited in how it can interact with Western governments, particularly those of NATO countries, he stated.

”What is happening in the Western direction is currently the job of the military and security officials. Diplomacy’s work there is, I would say, in a crisis-management mode, aimed at preventing an escalation into a really massive conflict,” Ryabkov said. The US-led bloc is “a group to which we feel not an ounce of trust, which triggers political and even emotional rejection” in Moscow.

This entrenched hostility is one of the reasons why claims that Russia could interfere in the US presidential election in November make no sense, according to the minister. He compared such statements to a vinyl record so overused that it can only produce noise when played.

”As a matter of fact, it is irrelevant for us who the next US president will be,” he explained. “No chance for the improvement of the situation can be seen, considering the fundamental anti-Russian consensus of the American elites.”