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Black Sea incident shows NATO can ‘go far in anti-Russian agitation,’ senior diplomat says

According to Alexander Grushko, the current NATO military actions have nothing to do with the real security requirements

MOSCOW, June 24. /TASS/. The HMS Defender in the Black Sea showed that the NATO colleagues can go very far in their "anti-Russian agitation," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told TASS Thursday.

"The yesterday’s British provocation in our territorial waters revealed that our NATO colleagues can go very far in their anti-Russian agitation," he said.

According to the diplomat, the current NATO military actions have nothing to do with the real security requirements.

"Because all threats are [currently] in the South. These are attempts to force an agenda upon us that should not be. Its result — a political demonization of Russia. This cannot leave us unconcerned militarily. As any responsible state, we must consider all potential developments," Grushko underscored.

"Therefore, Russia will take all necessary military-technical measures to reliably fulfill our security interests," the diplomat said.

On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the Black Sea Fleet and the Federal Security Service border control service thwarted a violation of the Russian border by HMS Defender near Crimea’s Cape Fiolent. The destroyer reportedly traveled 3 kilometers into Russia’s territorial waters. A guard ship fired warning shots, followed by several bombs, dropped from a Su-24M plane ahead of the Defender, after which the destroyer left Russian waters. The Russian Defense Ministry viewed the destroyer’s actions as a blatant violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and called on London to investigate the actions of the crew.

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