Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu on Thursday reiterated Romania’s position that a NATO site was “purely defensive” responding to accusations from Russia that an anti-missile base was a launch pad for strikes against Moscow.
‘Completely wrong’
Russian claims about the site are “completely wrong,” Mr Aurescu said Thursday.
He added that the assertions about NATO’s land-based missile defense system in the southern town of Deveselu were “nothing new.”
“The (claims) are part of the already well-known unconstructive rhetoric” since an agreement between Romania and the U.S was signed in 2011 to build the site, he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday warned that Europe could be returning to what he called the „nightmare of military confrontation”.
„The alliance’s military infrastructure is being irresponsibly brought closer to Russia’s borders in Romania and Poland, deploying an anti-missile defense system that can be used as a strike complex,” he said.
Military confrontation
„American medium-range missiles are about to appear in Europe, bringing back the nightmare scenario of a military confrontation.”
The NATO anti-ballistic missile shield at the Deveselu military base, which is under U.S. command, opened in 2016. It designed to protect Europe from possible ballistic missile attacks launched from the Middle East, such as Iran.
NATO says the $1 billion facility has “a purely defensive nature.” But it has strained relations with Russia.
Mk-41 missile launchers
The Russian defense ministry has proposed the destruction of the Mk-41 missile launchers at the Romanian missile defense site.
In 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a proposal to several countries, including NATO members, to introduce a moratorium on the deployment of short- and medium-range missiles in Europe and other regions. But the U.S. rejected the initiative/
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned of „serious consequences” if Russia sought conflict with Ukraine at a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Ukraine
The meeting in Sweden comes as Russia boosts its military near Ukraine’s border. Ukraine says Russia has amassed more than 90,000 troops there.
Moscow denies it is preparing an attack on Ukraine and accuses Kyiv of its own military build-up.
