MOSCOW. Feb 16 (Interfax) - Moscow no longer takes statements made by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg seriously, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said.
"Frankly, I can tell you the truth. We're not interested in these statements made by Stoltenberg, who is either NATO secretary-general or a banker, I haven't figured out which yet. We're no longer interested in them," Zakharova said at a briefing on Wednesday.
"He is not a person whose statements Moscow would consider serious arguments," she said. "He is a NATO has-been now," she said.
"We will be focused on a serious conversation if our Western partners are ready for it," Zakharova said.
It emerged earlier that Stoltenberg had been appointed chief of Norway's central bank Norges Bank for the next six years and will start performing his new duties after stepping down as NATO secretary-general in September 2022.