WASHINGTON — President Obama dissed Russia as a “regional power” on Tuesday and said his bigger worry is a nuclear weapon going off in Manhattan.

Obama’s comment came at a press conference in the Netherlands, where he was asked if 2012 challenger Mitt Romney was right that Russia is the United States’ No. 1 political foe, in light of its absorption of Crimea.

“Russia’s actions are a problem. They don’t pose the No. 1 national security threat to the United States. I continue to be much more concerned when it comes to our security with the prospect of a nuclear weapon going off in Manhattan,” the president said.

Obama called Russia a “regional power that is threatening some of its immediate neighbors, not out of strength, but out of weakness,” while speaking with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte after a nuclear security summit in The Hague.

The president claimed the Russian seizure of Crimea is “not a done deal” — but then added he had “no expectation that they will be dislodged by force.”

Obama called for the international community to require Russia to pay costs for its action, both to deter any further incursions and to punish its behavior, indicating the policy could be effective.

“History has a funny way in moving in twists and turns and not just in a straight line,” he said.

He said there would always be “bad things” going on in the world, and noted that the US hadn’t gone to war with Russia. He said Russia had a legal right to build up forces on its own territory, although he has discouraged escalation and called for talks with Ukraine.

“We’re not recognizing what has happened in Crimea,” he said.

via Obama’s top fear is Manhattan getting nuked | New York Post.