Russia queries US military role in M East
MOSCOW - Russia expects the United States to explain its growing military presence in the Middle East when the countries next meet to discuss the region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Russian news agencies on Saturday.
‘I have seen no change in Washington’s fairly aggressive rhetoric,’ Lavrov said.
‘It continues, just like its actions to increase the military presence in the region. It will be one of the questions which we want to clarify in Washington. What’s it all about?’
Lavrov is expected to take part in a meeting of the Middle East quartet group in Washington on Feb. 2 to try to get a peace process between Israelis and Palestinians back on track. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due to host the meeting.
The United States is in the process of sending an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq, which it invaded in 2003, to try to quell an insurgency. It already has 134,000 troops in the country.
Washington has said it is also deploying a second aircraft carrier group in the Gulf as well as Patriot missile defence systems -- steps widely seen as a warning to Iran and Syria.
It maintains a significant military presence in Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, which houses the US Navy’s Fifth fleet.
Lavrov also said unilateral US sanctions against Iran would be counterproductive to efforts to resolve the problem of the country’s nuclear ambitions and would force Teheran out of the negotiating process.
Russia’s number two diplomat, Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov, is due hold talks in Iran on Sunday and is expected to discuss nuclear issues.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Russia queries US military role in M East
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment