Russia’s ambassador went on the offensive on Wednesday denouncing what he called “hysterical propaganda” against his country.
He warned NATO it was “playing with fire” by deploying additional troops in Romania and the region but said there was still time to pull back from a conflict.
Tensions
Valery Kuzmin, Moscow’s Ambassador to Romania, accused the U.S. of ratcheting up tensions by sending troops to NATO-member Romania, even though militarily they are “more or less negligible,” he said.
France is also stoking tensions by sending extra troops he said at an online three-hour press conference on Wednesday.
„It is playing with fire.. It is putting oil into the fire,” adding he hoped it could be put out with efforts from both sides. “It is still a rather small fire; I hope we can extinguish it.”
“This (is) literally hysterical propaganda campaign against Russia”
NATO is concerned that Russia may invade Ukraine after it amassed 100,000 troops on its borders. Russia says it doesn’t plan to invade the country, but NATO members in eastern Europe are uneasy about the situation.
Some 100 U.S. troops arrived in Romania on Tuesday as Washington reinforces its NATO allies in Eastern Europe amid a Russian military build-up on Ukraine’s border.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Feb. 2 ordered nearly 3,000 extra troops to Poland and Romania, a move to reassure jittery NATO allies.
Offensive purposes
Russia’s ambassador spoke about a missile defense shield in Deveselu, southern Romania, claiming it could be used for offensive purposes against Russia. Romania and NATO have repeatedly denied that the missile interceptor can be used for launching missiles.
Despite the disagreement, the ambassador said there was no point in Russia visiting the base, as the military alliance has offered.
“ Unfortunately, the credit of trust (between the two sides) is very much exhausted,” he said several times. “We need a sober approach to all issues which are of vital importance to our mutual security.”
American administration
“We want a new architecture of European security, because the old architecture… was demolished by the current and previous American administrations.”
He acknowledged that Russia-Romanian relations were cool.
“Metaphorically, the distance between Bucharest and Moscow, is far larger than the geographical distance,” he said.
“We need reciprocal bilateral efforts” to bridge the gap he said.
Moscow
Historically, Bucharest views such suggestions as being weighted in Moscow’s favor.
The ambassador touched on Romanian national treasure which was shipped for safekeeping to Moscow during World War I.
He said the issue had been exploited by politicians rather than being left to historians.
Politicians use the treasure as a pretext of asking Russia “to pay back non-existent historical debts.”
The ambassador reminded journalists of comments made by a Russian official ten years ago. “This is not on the political agenda between Romania and Russia. Has something changed for the better?”
“Draw your own conclusions,” he added.
Soviet leader
He then recalled a meeting between Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu in Moscow 50 years ago.
“Do you know what was recommended to Comrade Ceausescu?” “To make it brief, forget about it dear comrade.”
“Let’s say that relations between our countries were warmer then.”
_______
Laurentiu Mihu contributed to this report.
U.S. troops arrive in Romania amid Ukraine tensions. ‘The Americans have arrived’-defense minister
