DHAKA: Russia hit back on Wednesday at US president Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech, saying it showed the United States believes it is ‘number one’ and seeks world domination.

Obama said his country was upholding ‘the principle that bigger nations can't bully the small’ by opposing what he called Russian aggression and supporting democracy in Ukraine.

Russia, he said, was isolated and its economy was in tatters.

‘The Americans have taken the course of confrontation and do not assess their own steps critically at all,’ Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference, reports The Straits Times.

‘Yesterday’s speech by the president shows that at the centre of the (US) philosophy is only one thing: ‘We are number one and everyone else has to respect that.’ ... It shows that the United States wants all the same to dominate the world and cannot merely be first among equals.’

This phase would pass, Lavrov said, but added that it would take time. ‘I would prefer all countries to adopt the philosophy of cooperation, not 'diktat',’ he said.

BDST: 1556 HRS, JAN 21, 2015