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Russia wants US to comply with Montreux Convention on Straits, Lavrov says

Russia's top diplomat drew attention to attempts of violating the length of stay in the Black Sea by the US Navy
View over the Bosphorus AP Photo, archive
View over the Bosphorus
© AP Photo, archive

BELGRADE, December 12. /TASS/. Moscow is firmly committed to the inadmissibility of violating the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.

"We are firmly committed to the inadmissibility of any violations of the Montreux Convention," the minister said. "We have Turkey’s assurances that the convention will be complied with." He noted that these assurance were in effect when the Russian-Turkish relations were marred by the Su-24 incident.

Lavrov drew attention to attempts of violating the length of stay in the Black Sea by the US Navy. "However, we firmly state every time, in accordance with the Convention, that the Convention should be respected and demand that our US counterparts stop eroding clear and unambiguous norms of international law," Russia’s top diplomat said.

The US Navy earlier did not rule out the possibility of extending the length of time used for patrolling the Black Sea to fourth months. Under the Montreux Convention, US ships cannot stay in the Black Sea more than 21 days.