LONDON, January 29. /TASS/. Russia’s Defense Ministry has decided to relocate its naval exercises, scheduled for early February in the Atlantic, outside Ireland’s exclusive economic zone, the Russian embassy in Dublin said in a statement, made available to TASS, on Saturday.
"In response to the requests from the Irish government as well as from the Irish South and West Fish Producer’s Organization the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergey Shoigu has made a decision, as a gesture of goodwill, to relocate the exercises by the Russian Navy, planned for February 3-8, outside the Irish exclusive economic zone (EEZ), with the aim not to hinder fishing activities by the Irish vessels in the traditional fishing areas," the statement says.
Earlier, Irish fishers and members of Ireland’s government made statements expressing their fear that the upcoming naval drills could cause potential damage to marine flora and fauna. In particular, they argued that the active use of military sonars could pose a danger to cetacean species.
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin stated on Tuesday that the naval exercises in international waters off the country’s coast "are not welcome," adding that "there is an ecological issue here."
Embassy’s position
Russia’s Ambassador to Dublin Yury Filatov told TASS on January 24 that the Irish authorities had no grounds for concern over the upcoming Russian naval maneuvers, about which "the Irish side was duly notified" and that all the rules pertaining to the safety of air and maritime traffic were strictly followed. Filatov pointed out that such drills were held in the Atlantic on a regular basis and not only by Russia but also by other states and dismissed the story as "extremely exaggerated."
On January 27, Filatov held a meeting with representatives of the Irish fish industry, who said afterwards that they had reached an understanding with the embassy about the upcoming exercise. The ambassador also urged Irish fishers to refrain from any provocative actions in the area of the naval drills.
Russian naval drills
Russia’s Defense Ministry announced last week that a series of naval drills would be held in January-February this year in all the areas of responsibility of the Navy’s fleets under the general command of Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nikolay Yevmenov.
As the ministry stressed, the naval maneuvers will focus on measures by the Navy and the Aerospace Force to protect Russia’s national interests in the World Ocean and counter military threats to Russia from the direction of seas and oceans.
The drills will cover the seas adjacent to Russian territory and also operationally important areas of the World Ocean. Separate drills will run in the Mediterranean, North and Okhotsk Seas, in the northeastern Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean.
Overall, the sweeping drills will bring together over 140 warships and support vessels, more than 60 aircraft, 1,000 items of military hardware and about 10,000 troops.