Russia Says ‘Small-Hearted’ Obama Administration Spoiled Ties<br />22, 2017<br />UNITED NATIONS — Russia’s top diplomat said Friday<br />that the Obama administration had been "small-hearted" and vindictive toward his country, spoiling relations and jeopardizing cooperation on critical issues including the Syria conflict.<br />On North Korea, he said it was time to "calm down the hotheads"<br />and consider offers of mediation, including one by Secretary General António Guterres of the United Nations.<br />It would have been leaked." There are still large gaps between the Russian<br />and American positions on a number of matters, from the question of what to do about Iran to how to handle the North Korean nuclear crisis.<br />The deal has been endorsed by the United Nations Security Council, Mr. Lavrov said,<br />and if there are other concerns about Iran, such as its ballistic missiles program or its role in Syria, they should be addressed separately.<br />Even after a year of inquiries, Mr. Lavrov said, "we did not see a single fact." Mr. Lavrov said he had asked his American counterpart,<br />Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, for evidence of Russian meddling in the election and was told it was confidential.<br />Mr. Lavrov was referring to the steep slide in relations between Washington<br />and the Kremlin over a variety of issues, including the imposition of sanctions on Russia in connection with Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine.
