UNITED NATIONS, September 25. /TASS/. Building up US military potential in the Middle East will not help in the process of settling the situation in the Persian Gulf, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin told reporters on Wednesday.

"We don't think that such issues can be resolved by military means, by building up military potential," Vershinin said. "We proceed from the assumption that all details [of the incident with oil facilities in Saudi Arabia] should be clarified, and an investigation should be conducted," he added.

The Pentagon earlier said that Washington plans to deploy more troops and air defense systems in the Persian Gulf upon the request from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.