MOSCOW, February 16. /TASS/. Mikhail Popov, deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council, said Washington is whipping up anti-Russian hysteria not only to deter Moscow, but also to offer its military technology and energy supplies to Europe.

"The current anti-Russian hysteria is aimed not only at curbing the economic development of our country," he said in an interview to Rossiyskaya Gazeta. Popov said it was increasingly a priority for Washington "to financially latch its European partners to its expensive military technologies and force on them the products of its defense and oil and gas industry."

"In this regard, let me remind you that while war is a mere continuation of politics by other, violent means, then politics is the most concentrated expression of economics," the Security Council official said.

He said that since 2014, the Pentagon has been implementing the anti-Russian program "Deterrence of Aggression in Europe", which draws $4-5 billion in annual allocations from the US military budget. Popov said that the name of this program has considerable propaganda significance as it purports to portray the United States as a peacemaker.

"Russia is forced to respond to these threats, which requires financial and material resources that we could otherwise direct to further development of our country," the official said. "Thus, the presence of US troops and its aggressive policy inflict certain financial and economic damage on Russia".