KALININGRAD. Aug 15 (Interfax) - The U.S. defense budget for 2019 is anti-Russian in nature and is driving Russian-U.S. relations into an impasse, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.
"In practical terms, this act, which is notably named after the inveterate Russophobe Senator John McCain is extending the ban on military cooperation with Russia amid serious deterioration of challenges and threats," Zakharova said at a news briefing on Wednesday.
Simultaneously, Zakharova mentioned an increase in the funding for the European Deterrence Initiative, a program providing for building up U.S. military presence in Europe and opposing the so-called Russian aggression.
"The act also has other clearly anti-Russian provisions," she said.
The new U.S. defense budget "envisions the funding of specific projects within the framework of the anti-Russian and anti-Chinese policies, which are codified in the U.S. National Security and National Defense Strategies and in the National Nuclear Posture Review
"Such actions are driving Russian-U.S. relations further and further into an impasse and make the very likelihood that they might be turned onto a constructive path problematic," she said.