MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin urged Washington’s new envoy yesterday not to interfere in Russia’s affairs as he accepted credentials from US ambassador John Tefft amid raging tensions.
“We are ready for practical cooperation with American partners along various directions guided by the principles of respect for each other’s interests, equal rights and non-interference into domestic affairs,” Putin said.
He spoke at the Kremlin where Tefft, Washington’s new ambassador to Russia, presented his letter of credence along with envoys from several other countries including North Korea.
Tefft — known for backing the pro-Western aspirations of former Soviet states — succeeded Michael McFaul, who abruptly quit his post in February after just two years on the job.
Tefft served as US ambassador to Ukraine from 2009 to 2013 and was Washington’s representative in Georgia during its five-day war with Russia in 2008.
His predecessor McFaul, a Stanford university professor, frequently sparked Russia’s fury with critical comments on Twitter and meetings with Russian opposition activists.
Cold War-era rivals Russia and the United States are locked in a tug-of-war over the fate of ex-Soviet republic Ukraine, with Washington imposing sanctions and US President Barack Obama branding Moscow’s actions over Ukraine a “threat to the world”.
Meeting with his supporters on Tuesday, Putin claimed the United States wanted to subjugate Russia but would never succeed.
“They want to subdue us, want to solve their problems at our expense,” the Russian president said. “No one in history ever managed to do this to Russia, and no one ever will.” In a fresh sign of mounting Russia-West tensions, Putin at the weekend faced scorn from Western leaders at a G20 summit in Australia which he left early. In unusually blunt remarks on Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Russia’s aggression against Ukraine threatened Europe’s “peaceful order”.
In an apparent effort to calm tensions, Putin said on Tuesday no one in the West wanted to see an escalation.AFP
