At a $20,000-a-plate fundraising event on April 29, President Obama said: “But when you’ve got the leading contender, the presumptive nominee, on the other side suddenly saying our number one enemy isn’t al-Qaeda, it’s Russia — (Laughter.) — I don’t make that up. (Laughter.) I’m suddenly thinking what — maybe I didn’t check the calendar this morning. (Laughter.) I didn’t know we were back in 1975. (Laughter.)”
A few days later, the BBC reported:
Russia says it is prepared to use “destructive force pre-emptively” if the US goes ahead with controversial plans for a missile defence system based in Central Europe.
The warning came after the Russian defence minister said talks on missile defence were nearing a dead end.
Moscow fears that missile interceptors would be a threat to Russia’s security.
But the US and Nato say they are intended to protect against attacks from Iran or North Korea.
“A decision to use destructive force pre-emptively will be taken if the situation worsens,” chief of the Russian defence staff Gen Nikolai Makarov said.