Premium
The Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Romania, Valery Kuzmin, was summoned on Thursday to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) headquarters, where a discussion at the level of secretary of state for strategic affairs took place.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, ordered the convening of the Russian ambassador, in the context of the public statements made by him on Wednesday.
"Secretary of State for Strategic Affairs Iulian Fota reiterated to Ambassador Kuzmin the position constantly and clearly repeated by Romania, the USA and NATO since the negotiation of the Romanian-American Anti-Missile Shield Agreement concluded in 2011 and inclusively recently: the anti-missile facility in Deveselu, part of the NATO missile defence system, is strictly defensive, is not directed against the Russian Federation - targeting exclusively only potential ballistic missile attacks outside the Euro-Atlantic area, and there is no intention or possibility to place offensive missiles within this facility", shows the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The MAE also states that, in connection with the activity of the Romanian-Russian Commission for the study of issues in the history of bilateral relations, including that of the Romanian Treasure deposited in Moscow during the World War I, on which the Russian Ambassador to Romania stated in his Wednesday's statements, contrary to reality, that the issue would not be on the bilateral agenda, Secretary of State Iulian Fota reminded that the next session of the Commission (the sixth one) will be organized in Romania according to the decision taken by the Commission at the fifth meeting, in November 2019. Fota reiterated the willingness of the MAE, which provides the secretariat of the Romanian component of the Commission, to continue to support the activity of this forum, Agerpres.ro informs.
The secretary of state emphasized, in the context of the meeting, that the Romanian side considers that such public interventions, which try to create misperceptions in the public opinion, are not likely to facilitate the development of a natural dialogue based on trust between the parties and not to a predictable and constructive relationship, respecting the legitimate interests of both parties.
Also, in the view of the Romanian side, the observance of international commitments and international law remains an essential condition for such a dialogue.
