'No reason' for Russia to consider U.S. as threat: Pentagon

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Tuesday 05 Jan 2016 - 11:19 Makkah mean time-25-3-1437 Russian President Putin, US President Obama (Reuters image) Washington (IINA) – The Pentagon said Monday that Russia has no reason to consider the United States a threat to its national security, after Moscow published a report highlighting Washington and NATO for the first time, AFP reported. Russia's new national security document, signed by President Vladimir Putin on New Year's Eve, names as threats both the United States and the expansion of the NATO alliance, according to the Pentagon's official news channel. The previous document, from 2009, does not mention the United States or NATO. "They have no reason to consider us a threat," Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis told reporters. "We are not looking for conflict with Russia," he said. "We have our differences ... but it's fundamentally wrong to look at the United States as a threat to Russia," Davis added. Russia's characterization reflects worsening relations between Moscow and Washington, as the two powers remain opposed on Ukraine and the civil war in Syria. Still, the United States has previously used similar language to describe Moscow. AB/IINA