Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday that Russia poses no threat to Europe or the West.
"We are not a threat to anyone in Europe or the West," Medvedev told Iranian state television.
"We have no special interests there, except for normal relations with European countries, as the Russian leadership has repeatedly stated.
We don't need anything else from them, except for full, normal dialogue and calm cooperation.
If they want it, we will do it. "If they perceive us as a threat, so be it," he said.
Medvedev said that portraying Russia as a threat is being used to influence public opinion, win elections and "squeeze money out of their military budgets".