Russian President VladimirPutinaccused the USA oftrying to make Russia submissive; an effort he said won't succeed.
Putin told the new U.S. ambassador to Moscow that the United States should not interfere in Russia's affairs.
The warning came at a Kremlin ceremony on 19 November 19 which Putin received the credentials of U.S. Ambassador JohnTefft.
Putin said, "We are ready for practical cooperation with our American partners in various fields, based on the principles of respect for each other's interests, equal rights, and non-interference in internal affairs.”
The remark echoed conditions Putin set out in a foreign policy decree at the start of his third term in 2012, and a similar warning issued by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in an address to Russian lawmakers earlier on November 19.
Tefft, 64, is a career diplomat who previously served as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Georgia, and Lithuania -- three ex-Soviet republics whose ties with Moscow are tense.
His posting starts at a time when U.S.-Russian relations are badly strained over the Ukraine crisis.
Tefft replaces Michael McFaul, who was ambassador from January 2012 until February 2014.
McFaul, the architect of U.S. President Barack Obama's first-term "reset," which improved ties with Moscow, swiftly became a prime target in a campaign of anti-Americanism that has marked Putin's current term.
In Washington, asenior aide to U.S. President Barack Obama said that the United States should reconsider its policy of not providing lethal aid to Ukraine, which is grappling with pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country.
Tony Blinken, the deputy national security adviser, cited "serious violations" by Moscow of the Minsk agreement.
Signed by Russia, Ukraine and rebels from Ukrainian separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk on September 5 in the Belarus capital, the agreement imposed a cease-fire and set out steps toward peace.
Blinken said providing Kiev with lethal military aid may prompt Moscow "to think twice and deter them from further action.”
Blinken was speaking on 19 November at a congressional hearing on his nomination to be Obama's deputy secretary of state.
Analysts say providing defensive military equipment to Ukraine has broad support in Congress.
Ukraine accused Russia last week of sending soldiers and weapons to help separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine launch a new offensive in a conflict that has already killed more than 4,100 people.
NATO has accused Russia of sending tanks and troops to eastern Ukraine in recent days to support the separatists.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on November 18 that there had been a "serious military buildup" both in eastern Ukraine and on the Russian side of the border, and urged Moscow to pull back its forces.
Russia backs the separatists but denies it is directly involved in the conflict.
Blinken's comments came before the visit to Kiev today by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden.Biden is due to meet Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
On November 19, Yatsenyuk rejected a call by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for Kiev to hold direct talks with the separatists.
http://www.neurope.eu/article/putin-warns-usa-not-interfere