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Russian FM: Crimea’s reunification with Russia not violate stability in Europe

MOSCOW, March 23. /ITAR-TASS/. The Republic of Crimea’s reunification with Russia does not violate military and political stability in Europe, Director of the security and disarmament department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Mikhail Ulyanov told Itar-Tass on Sunday.

“The numerical strength of troops and weapons deployed in Crimea is so insignificant that it is just unsubstantial to say about some violations of balances,” he noted. “Concerns of some of our Western partners about it are groundless. All balances that ensured balance of forces on the continent some time ago are ruined a long time ago as a result of NATO’s eastward expansion and now in all categories of conventional weapons the alliance has manifold advantage over any off-bloc country in Europe, including Russia,” he added.

In the view of the diplomat, another question is much more interesting - how the Republic of Crimea’s reunification with Russia may affect the regimes of control over weapons and confidence-building measures in Europe. “This aspect should be studied in all details,” he noted, adding that, “however, rapid analysis allows saying that most likely Crimea’s entry in Russia will not affect much these regimes.

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