The US is carrying out a provocation by sending its warships to the Black Sea, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Tuesday, calling such actions an attempt to play on Russia's nerves, which will not bring results.
"There is absolutely nothing for American warships to do near our shores. These are purely provocative actions that they are carrying out, provocative in the literal sense of the word. They are testing us, they are playing on our nerves. They are not going to succeed," Ryabkov said.
He noted that the maneuvers of the American fleet thousands of kilometers away from their bases are always a tool of geopolitics. "The US, apparently feeling itself the ruler of the seas inside, in this respect inheriting the UK from another era, should still understand that the risks of this or that incidents are very high. We have already observed something similar in other waters this year," concluded the Deputy Minister.
Moscow urges Washington to stay away from Crimea and Russia's Black Sea coast for its own good, the deputy foreign minister added. "We are warning the United States that they had better stay away from Crimea, from our Black Sea coast. It will be for their own good," Ryabkov noted.
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Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry / TASS
Based on materials from TASS