Military preparations
near the Russian borders cannot be ignored, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria
Zakharova said.
MOSCOW, May 23.
/TASS/. Russia reserves the right to take retaliatory measures over the deployment
of a US radar in Norway, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on
Thursday.
"It is obvious
that military preparations near the borders, be it the Russian or some other’s
border, cannot be ignored by our country, like by any other country. We proceed
from the fact that retaliatory measures will be taken to ensure our
security," the diplomat stressed.
"The talk is
about the US Globus II radar. The radar station is based just 50 km from the
border with Russia and is serviced by the military intelligence of
Norway," Zakharova said.
"It is no secret
for anyone that the data received is transferred directly to the United States.
In April 2016, the press release of the Norwegian armed forces said that the
radar station would be upgraded in 2017-2020 to comprise a new radar [Globus
III whose construction is currently underway]," the Russian diplomat said.
Russia regularly
raised this issue before the Norwegian side, Zakharova pointed out.
"Norwegian
officials get away from explaining for what purposes the upgraded station will
be used. They confine themselves to the statements that the radar system
‘generally is not aimed against Russia," although it is located 50 km from
Russia, the diplomat said.
"There are all
grounds to believe that the radar will be tracking precisely the territory of
the Russian Federation and will become a part of the US missile shield,"
the spokeswoman said.
"It is obvious that
the deployment of the US radar in that area is not a purely Norwegian issue.
This relates to the general context of keeping stability and predictability in
the North," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman stressed.
Source: ITAR-TASS
24-05-2019
