Ya Libnan

Russia warns Cyprus against allowing U.S. military to deploy there

Share:

Cyprus BASESRussia on Wednesday warned authorities in Cyprus not to allow the U.S. military to deploy on their territory, saying such a move would draw a Russian reaction and result in “dangerous and destabilizing consequences” for the Mediterranean island.

Maria Zakharova, a spokesman for Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Moscow had become aware of what she called “anti-Russian plans” involving Cyprus and the U.S. military which she said was eyeing setting up forward operating bases for its troops there.

“We’re getting information from various sources that the United States is actively studying options to build up its military presence on Cyprus,” Zakharova told a news briefing in Moscow.

“The aim is not being hidden – to counter growing Russian influence in the region in the light of the successful operation by the Russian military in Syria.”

There was no immediate U.S. response to her comments.

Prodromos Prodromou, a spokesman for the Cypriot government, said the island had no desire to further militarize.

“We want to clarify that it has never been our aim, nor do we seek the militarization of Cyprus,” he said, responding to Zakharova’s remarks.

“The Republic of Cyprus, because of its advantageous geographical position, offers facilities for missions of a humanitarian nature, and then only in cases where countries make a request or have a relevant MOU (memorandum of understanding) with the Republic.”

Zakharova said a U.S. delegation had inspected potential sites for the bases and that Washington was engaged in intensive talks with Nicosia on expanding military cooperation.

Cyprus is a popular destination for Russian tourists  and many wealthy Russian business people bank or own property there. The island, a former British colony, hosts two British military bases. The United States has an embassy in Nicosia.

Cyprus was split by a Turkish invasion in 1974 that followed a Greek-inspired coup. Northern Cyprus is now a Turkish Cypriot state of about 300,000 people that is recognized only by Turkey. Greek Cypriots run the island’s internationally recognized government which represents the whole island in the European Union.

Cypriot media said the island had recently appointed a military attache to Washington.

Zakharova said Russia had repeatedly warned Cypriot authorities against allowing the island to be further militarized.

“It being drawn into U.S. and NATO plans in the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East will inevitably lead to dangerous and destabilizing consequences for Cyprus itself,” she said.

“In Moscow we can’t ignore the anti-Russian element in these (U.S.) plans and in the event that they are implemented we will be forced to take counter measures.”

REUTERS

Share:

Comments

3 responses to “Russia warns Cyprus against allowing U.S. military to deploy there”

  1. vs Avatar
    vs

    On Wednesday, December 5, a trilateral meeting was held in Nakura with the participation of representatives of the Israel Defense Forces, the UN temporary forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese army.

    The IDF press service reported that the Israeli delegation was headed by the head of the foreign relations brigade, General Erez Meisel.

    The meeting was devoted to the operation of the IDF “Northern Shield”, the purpose of which is to detect and neutralize the Hezbollah tunnels on the Israeli-Lebanese border.

    The army press service reported that Israeli representatives had expressed protest at the flagrant violation of the UN Security Council resolution 1701, which determined the terms of the cease-fire in August 2006.

    Israeli state radio station Kan Beth broadcast that a telephone conversation took place on December 5 between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The head of the Israeli government informed the interlocutor about the progress of the Northern Shield operation and expressed the hope that the UN would strongly condemn the actions of Hezbollah.

    Operation Northern Shield was launched on the night of December 4th. On the very first day of the operation, the jihad tunnel was neutralized, which led from the southern outskirts of the Lebanese village of Kfar Kela to Israel, near Metulla. The entrance to this tunnel was located in the factory, where until 2014 building materials were produced. Work on the laying of underground structures were carried out a few meters from the position of UNIFIL. The tunnel at 40 meters went deep into Israeli territory. This tunnel was destroyed shortly after two Hezbollah fighters approached the surveillance camera installed by the Israelis in this tunnel.

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on December 4 that Operation Northern Shield would continue as long as it took to neutralize the threat and achieve all military objectives.

    The head of the IDF General Staff, Lieutenant-General Gadi Ayzenkot, said that the decision to conduct this operation was made on November 17. It is carried out under the leadership of the Northern District Command, with the participation of military intelligence and engineering units of the IDF. According to Eisenkot, the operation will take several weeks

  2. Y K Avatar
    Y K

    The best reaction to Russian threats is to listen to ’em politely, then do the opposite.

    1. Niemals Avatar
      Niemals

      The Russian threats is made of the Sukhoi Su-57 multipurpose jet that may be armed with a hypersonic missile similar to the Kinzhal.

      Kinzhal is Russia’s freshly-introduced air-launched ballistic missile which can fly at Mach-10 speed and has a reported range of 2,000 km.

      However the weapon needs to be fired from an already fast-moving platform, like the Sukhoi Su-57 or the Mig-31K interceptor or a Tu-22M3 bomber.

      When it comes to missile threats, like the Russian Iskander that Russia deployed to Kaliningrad, you just don’t “listen to ’em politely”

      The Iskander, is a mobile ballistic missile system, replaced the Soviet Scud missile.
      Its two guided missiles have a range of up to 500 kilometers and can carry either conventional or nuclear warheads.
      Located on its Kaliningrad exclave on the Baltic Sea, the Iskander is a real threat that can’t be ignored.

      Just look at the map of Europe https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/25229fb798c70642d7b6e554c8100963014bdec940968390c37074b8d76cc7ba.jpg and the map of the Middle East https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f43633dadf8e9ccab5f3131ce4f5f7b4e5fb424b43c6063d825ee56372b0899e.jpg

Leave a Reply