MOSCOW. Dec 13 (Interfax) - The U.S. skepticism about the Russian contingent's withdrawal from Syria does not surprise Moscow, which sees it as a demonstration of political irritation and envy, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Wednesday.
"This is so predictable. No matter what we do to implement tasks on any track, the Americans always find a reason to at least doubt or, as a rule, offer rather harsh critique," Ryabkov told Interfax, commenting on the U.S.'s skeptical remarks on the pullout of the Russian contingent from Syria.
"The whole thing derives from what I would call political envy, the inability to accept the fact that Russia has played and is still playing a key role in the normalization process in Syria and is taking the most energetic and rather fruitful efforts on the political track," he said.
"Of course, this makes [Washington] allergic and irritant, given the general attitude to our country," Ryabkov said.
"We are totally calm about this situation, which we see as a manifestation of the general attitude of the United States to Russian affairs. Syria is no exception. We will carry on our calm work; the statements made by the Russian president at the Hmeimim airbase speak for themselves and this message has been heard by the entire world," he said.