MOSCOW, May 25. /TASS/. The advice of former US Secretary of State John Kerry to "learn Russian" is strange as under the Barack Obama administration Russian-US relations became deadlocked, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters on Thursday.

"This is an absolutely strange and probably sarcastic, though a strange statement of John Kerry on the need to learn Russian under the current administration," Zakharova said. "All this is strange: the Democrats had two terms, both to learn the language and improve ties. Neither thing was done. And I think it is up to the new administration to decide what it should do."

Zakharova noted that the Barack Obama administration pushed the relations with Russia into a deadlock. "Apparently, a line was chosen to scale down relations with Russia. These are not only our analytical assessments, this was in fact so," she said.

Delivering address to the graduates at Harvard Kennedy School on Wednesday, Kerry shared a secret of how to have a real impact on the government. "I used to say, either run for office or get a degree from Harvard Kennedy School. With this White House I'd say, buy Rosetta Stone and learn Russian."