Russia Respects Turkey’s Right to Self-Defense: Lavrov

Author: us-russia
Comments: 0
Category: News
Published 6-12-2012, 04:06
Moscow is not attempting to prevent Turkey from realizing its right to self-defense by opposing the deployment of Patriot missiles along the border with Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.

Russia has repeatedly voiced concern about plans to deploy Patriot air defense systems on Turkey's border with Syria, although Moscow avoided directly criticizing Turkey.

"We are not protesting, we are not trying to prevent Turkey from realizing its right under Article 5 of the Washington treaty,” Lavrov said after a Russia-NATO Council meeting in Brussels. "We are simply trying to say that the alleged threat should not be blown out of proportion.”

The minister reiterated that the placement of additional military assets in the region increases the risks that they could be used eventually or accidentally.

Lavrov added, though, that NATO officials reassured Russia that they were solely seeking a peaceful solution for the Syrian crisis.

NATO member Turkey formally requested Patriot missiles from the military alliance after weeks of talks with NATO allies about how to shore up security on its 900-kilometer (560 mile) border. Syria is believed to have several hundred surface-to-surface missiles capable of carrying chemical warheads.

Damascus has repeatedly stated that it would not use chemical weapons against its own people, but could deploy them to thwart "external aggression."

The deployment of Patriot missile in Turkey is expected to be formally approved during a ministerial meeting of the 28 NATO allies in Brussels on December 4-5.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday reassured Turkey that Syria is too busy dealing with its internal conflict to plan any attack on its neighbors.

Putin downplayed the possible deployment of Patriot missiles in Turkey and stressed that this would only complicate the situation in the region.

Comments: 0
Category: News
Experts' Panel
Save the Planet Expert`s Pannel
Presently a growing number of people, including well known and...
Save the Planet Expert`s Pannel
Top
popular in the journal

RUSSIAN FEDERATION SITREP 6...

KAZAKHSTAN. Major trouble. Started, they say, with the doubling of the price of LPG but now clearly another "colour revolution”, complete with a "leader” who ...
Searching for an end to the...

Searching for an end to the...

Some important talks are set for next week between Russian and U.S. officials. These talks will start in Geneva on Monday, followed by a NATO-Russian dialogue in ...

RUSSIAN FEDERATION SITREP 23...

ULTIMATUM. Moscow has had enough. "Do they really think we do not see these threats [угроз]? Or do they think that we will just stand idly watching threats ...
Andrei Sakharov: Second Coming to...

Andrei Sakharov: Second Coming to...

If the legendary scientist, peace and human rights activist Andrei Sakharov was alive today, he would have ...

What Russia Says About Its...

Russia has detailed its security demands to the U.S. and NATO in form of two draft treaties.