NATO Calls On Forces Present In Mediterranean To 'Exercise Restraint' - Spokesperson

NATO Calls on Forces Present in Mediterranean to 'Exercise Restraint' - Spokesperson

NATO has urged all the forces present in the Mediterranean to exercise restraint amid reinforcement of Russia's military presence in the region, NATO Spokesperson Oana Lungescu said on Tuesday.

BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2018) NATO has urged all the forces present in the Mediterranean to exercise restraint amid reinforcement of Russia's military presence in the region, NATO Spokesperson Oana Lungescu said on Tuesday.

Lungescu's remarks came amid media reports about Russia's deployment of several combat vessels in the Mediterranean, which Russian daily Izvestia qualified as largest naval buildup since 2015, when Russia engaged in the Syrian conflict settlement.

"The Russian Navy has dispatched substantial naval forces to the Mediterranean, including several ships equipped with modern cruise missiles ... We will not speculate on the intention of the Russian fleet, but it is important that all actors in the region exercise restraint and refrain from worsening an already disastrous humanitarian situation in Syria," Lungescu told the Haaretz newspaper.

She went on to say that although NATO was not present in Syria, it supported the UN efforts "to achieve a lasting political resolution to the conflict."

The Russian Defense Ministry's spokesman, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, said on Saturday that terrorists in Syria were preparing a provocation with the use of chemical weapons, adding that the US-led coalition would later use it as a pretext for carrying out a strike on the positions of the Syrian government forces.

According to Konashenkov, USS The Sullivans destroyer with 56 cruise missiles on board had already arrived in the Persian Gulf for this purpose, while the US В-1В bomber carrying 24 air-to-surface AGM-158 JASSM cruise missiles had been deployed in Qatar.

Former commander of the Baltic Fleet Adm. Vladimir Valuev told Sputnik earlier on Tuesday that the buildup was aimed at preventing the possible attacks on the Syrian government forces.

The United States and its allies have accused the Syrian government of using chemical weapons on the civilian population. Damascus has strongly denied the allegations, and accused terrorists and opposition groups of staging false flag attacks in a bid to provoke Western military action against the Syrian government.