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In an interview with CNBC today, Russia's Prime Minister Dimitri Medvedev accused President Barack Obama of suffering from a "mental aberration."
Late last month at a United Nations General Assembly meeting Obama slammed Russia, saying it poses the same kind of threat to the world that ISIS and Ebola do.
In return Medvedev today said, "I don't want to dignify it with a response. It's sad, it's like some kind of mental aberration."
Although Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov last month suggested the U.S. and Russia could "reset" their relations, Medvedev said that won't happen anytime soon.
"No, of course not. It's absolutely impossible. Let's be clear: we did not come up with these sanctions. Our international partners did," said Medvedev.
The U.S. and European Union allies have imposed sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, though the U.S. has said it would end the sanctions if Russia ends the war. Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated this at a meeting with Lavrov yesterday. Russia is on the verge of recession, whether western sanctions are responsible, or Russia's own bloated military budget is.
During the interview Medvedev insisted that Russia is not responsible for the war in Ukraine or the downing of a Malaysia Airline passenger plane over the country earlier this year, and that he is "deeply concerned" by the neighboring nation's plight.
His statement isn't surprising, since Russia has continuously denied any involvement in the conflict, despite a former Russian military official taking responsibility for shooting down the plane, a Russian-backed leader announcing an influx of Russian troops days before they arrived, mercenaries claiming to be on official orders, captured Russian soldiers admitting being on a mission, satellite images showing Russian troop and artillery movement throughout the war, observation of Russian military drones flying over the border, the theft of Ukrainian military equipment when Russian staged a "humanitarian aid" mission, Russian citizens' calling-out of their government, and a growing list of Russian soldiers who have mysteriously disappeared or died in Ukraine.
Read more Reason coverage of U.S. relations with Ukraine and Russia here.
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