Russia Hopes US Will Abandon Plans to Dominate Black Sea, Foreign Ministry Says
18:06 GMT 17.11.2021 (Updated: 13:26 GMT 06.08.2022)
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia expects the United States to abandon plans to dominate the Black Sea, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
Earlier, the US Navy's 6th Fleet announced that its command flagship Mount Whitney was heading to the Black Sea for joint operations with NATO forces.
"This is, of course, an open attempt to test the Russian reaction, to increase tensions in the Black Sea region," Zakharova said at a briefing. "All this fits into the concept of containment, the creation of some very aggressive situations, the destabilization of the situation in general."
"This all leads to a decrease in predictability, seriously increases the risk of escalation. I hope that common sense in Washington exists and that it, if available, will prevail over irresponsible plans to achieve dominance in the Black Sea," she said.
On Seized Diplomatic Property
Russia is fundamentally not going to sell the diplomatic property seized from it in the United States, a diplomatic source said on Wednesday.
"There was no practical conversation, there were only hints that Russia could be helped to sell this dacha. Russia, in principle, will not agree to this," the source said.
He clarified that the Russians still did not have access to this property.
"The Russian Embassy in the United States sends notes every two weeks with a request to provide it to all selected objects, but receives a polite refusal," he added.
Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Washington continued to deny Russian diplomats access to Russian diplomatic property in the United States, and even the idea of selling it had been voiced. She noted that the Russian diplomatic property, despite its status, was subjected to searches, and was actually seized at the moment.
"There was no practical conversation, there were only hints that Russia could be helped to sell this dacha. Russia, in principle, will not agree to this," the source said.
He clarified that the Russians still did not have access to this property.
"The Russian Embassy in the United States sends notes every two weeks with a request to provide it to all selected objects, but receives a polite refusal," he added.
Earlier in the day, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Washington continued to deny Russian diplomats access to Russian diplomatic property in the United States, and even the idea of selling it had been voiced. She noted that the Russian diplomatic property, despite its status, was subjected to searches, and was actually seized at the moment.
