Russia’s Foreign Minister Says Ukraine Won’t Conduct NATO Military Drills in the Sea of Azov

By TOC On Oct 19, 2018

MOSCOW, the Russian Federation, (BulgarianMilitary.com) – The Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned Ukraine that his country won’t allow the conducting of joint NATO drills in the Sea of Azov, referring to the terms of a bilateral treaty, signed between Moscow and Kiev, under which this demands Russia’s approval. The information was announced yesterday, by him in an interview with the television channel RT France, the French weekly news magazine Paris Match and the French daily newspaper Le Figaro, learned BulgarianMilitary.com.

Russia’s top diplomat specified that Ukraine’s actively planning to hold NATO exercises in the Sea of Azov won’t be realized due to the fact that it requires mutual consent for the passage of warships there. He also noted that NATO is already highly active near the borders of Russia.

He emphasized on the build-up of armaments on Russia’s borders as well as the drive to be upgraded the Europe transport infrastructure, saying “that it can be easier for US heavy armaments and, perhaps, the armaments of other NATO countries to choose our borders; [in addition to] blatantly provocative drills – not ours with China in Siberia – but military exercises in Ukraine, Georgia and in the Black Sea.”

Sergei Lavrov also claimed that all the military trainings with NATO, held in the Baltic States, Poland, Romania and other countries, along with the deployment of the U.K., German and Canadian military contingents, as well those in France, Baltic States, Poland are a direct violation of the NATO–Russia Founding Act. To them he added the intentions of the U.S. to deploy its division on the territory of Poland, referring to that the the NATO–Russia Founding Act bans the deployment of the significant military forces on the regular basis at the territories of NATO countries from East and Central Europe.

Read more: Russian expert: In case of a Conflict, Russia Would Use “Kinzhal” Missile

Lately, Ukraine has been laying its claims to the Sea of Azov where the military activity is controlled under the terms of the agreement with Russia.

Since 2014, Ukraine often hosts NATO military drills on its territory. Today, the Clean Sky-2018 aviation drills ended that took place in the Khmelnitskaya Region in Ukraine, from 8 October. It was conducted with the participation of the air forces from Belgium, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Estonia, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and the United States.

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Sources: TASS