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US official says there are no plans to deploy air defense systems in the Black Sea

According to US Assistant Secretary of State Frank Rose the system in Poland and in Romania is designed to deal with threats from outside the Euro-Atlantic region

© EPA/ROBERT GHEMENT

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WASHINGTON, May 5. /TASS/. The United States does not plan to deploy missile defense systems in the Black Sea, US Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance Frank Rose said Thursday.

"The US missile defense is not directed against Russia, we have been saying this for numerous years. If you look at our policy documents over the past 20 years, we’ve made very clear: we are not seeking to negate the Russian strategic deterrent even in Poland," Rose said.

"The system in Poland and in Romania is designed to deal with threats from outside the Euro-Atlantic region. It is not directed against Russia," he said.

"We will have Aegis later this year. The Poland site will be operational on 2018," Rose said.

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Moscow says plans to create NATO’s "Black Sea flotilla" undermine regional security

Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said the United States is finding artificial arguments to substantiate the necessity of a missile defense system.

"For the Russian Federation, the situation with the use of medium-range ballistic missiles against targets in Europe is unthinkable. This can only be carried out by terrorists, who by definition are incapable of possessing such weapons and controlling them," Ryabkov said.

"I rule out government decisions in line with such a scenario," he said. "So I believe the US administration is trying to find artificial arguments to substantiate the decision to continue and boost the rates of the European missile defense system creation, which was made for other reasons," he said.

Military operation in Ukraine

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