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FM disagrees with NATO Council statement blaming Russia for military escalation in Crimea

"An astute manipulation of facts and fomenting tension do not contribute to normalizing the situation in Ukraine," Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement

© ITAR-TASS/Stanislav Krasilnikov

MOSCOW, March 3. /ITAR-TASS/. Moscow strongly disagrees with a statement by NATO Council, which condemns Russia for military escalation in Crimea in contravention with the principles of international law, says a commentary published on Russian Foreign Ministry’s web page on Monday.

“Such a stance doesn’t contribute to stabilizing the situation in Ukraine and only encourages those forces that intend to use the current events to achieve their reckless political goals,” Russia’s diplomatic service said in a statement. “It is obvious that the existing threats to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are caused exclusively by the domestic political crisis in this country. Its settlement requires a fundamentally different behavior of our partners.”

“The Black Sea fleet units staying in Crimea do not interfere in Ukrainian domestic political affairs,” the Foreign Ministry stressed, “All redeployments of units stem only from the task of providing security of the fleet’s objects and the inadmissibility of attacks of extremists and radicals on our compatriots.”

“An astute manipulation of facts and fomenting tension do not contribute to normalizing the situation in Ukraine and to confidence in our relationship with NATO countries,” the ministry stated.

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