U.S. State Dept slammed for looking into ‘routine matters’ of Russian politics

Russian Foreign Ministry Building Tower file photo

MOSCOW. Feb 14 (Interfax) – A Russian deputy foreign minister has slammed the U.S. State Department for what he argued is too much attention to “routine matters” in Russia’s foreign policy.

“It’s surprising that routine matters should be attracting such close attention, including public attention,” Sergei Ryabkov told Interfax on Thursday in comments on a statement by a State Department official that Secretary of State John Kerry had been unable to get through by phone to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for a discussion on the North Korea issue.

“Not that it’s self-cheapening – it’s just not in tune with the rules of the genre,” Ryabkov said. “We’ve ended up in a situation where literally every move is monitored.”

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