Peskov said that Russia would not like to repeat such incidents, but if necessary, it is ready to respond harshly to provocations if foreign partners go too far
Destroyer HMS Defender
The violation of the Russian borders off the Crimean coast by the British destroyer Defender is a deliberate provocation. This was stated by the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov.
“We believe that the destroyer committed a provocation. We are sorry, because it was a deliberate and prepared provocation. We are concerned about such actions of the British ship, ” he said.
Such actions in the Kremlin are considered unacceptable and do not comply with international law. Peskov noted that the border service and the armed forces will continue to respond to such provocations harshly, but in strict accordance with the norms of international law.
“We do not want to deduce a trend from this and do not want to assume that such actions can enter the system,” Peskov stressed.
When asked if the Russian authorities would include the UK in the list of unfriendly countries in connection with the incident with the destroyer, the press secretary said that he “does not know anything about this”.
To the words of Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who promised, if necessary, to “bomb at the target” in case of new violations of Russian borders and international law, Peskov said that Russia will take measures if the actions of foreign partners go “too far”.
“We can appeal to common sense, demand respect for international law. If this does not help, we can bomb not just on the course, but also on the target, if colleagues do not understand, ” Ryabkov said earlier on Thursday.
On June 23, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the destroyer of the Royal Navy Defender violated the maritime borders of Russia near Cape Fiolent in the Crimea. The ship went deep into 3km territorial waters, did not respond to warnings and left Russian waters only after firing and dropping bombs on its course.
In London, they denied the violation of the borders by the ship, saying that Defender, in compliance with the norms of international law, carried out a peaceful passage in the territorial waters of Ukraine. The British Ministry of Defense denied the bombing of the course and reported that the shooting from Russian patrol ships was mistaken for an exercise.
However, the BBC correspondent Sijonatan Beal, who was on the destroyer at the time, said that the ship’s captain deliberately entered the territorial waters of Russia, before putting the crew and weapons on alert.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the official statements of the United Kingdom false, the British ambassador to Russia was summoned to Smolenskaya Square.