Russian defence minister lashes back at his US counterpart

MOSCOW – Russia’s defence minister has lashed out at his U.S. counterpart, who has accused Moscow of sowing seeds of global instability.

In last week’s speech at Oxford University, U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carter said “Russia has clear ambition to erode the principled international order,” a statement that came days before the top U.S. and Russian diplomats struck a new cease-fire deal for Syria.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu fired back Monday, saying “that the international order mustn’t be mistaken with the American order” and that “maintaining the international order is the prerogative of the entire international community, not only the Pentagon.”

Shoigu added in a statement that “the sooner our U.S. colleagues realize that and begin to change, the sooner our accumulated disagreements could be settled, and not only on Syria.”