Russia Censures Presence of Western Warships in Persian Gulf

"We characterize the situation in the Persian Gulf region as turbulent," the spokeswoman stated, referring to Operation Agenor in the Strait of Hormuz, supported by Belgium, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and France.

"Obviously excessive presence of foreign warship does not facilitate ease of tensions [in the region] and, on the contrary, creates an additional irritant," she added, the Tass news agency reported.

According to the spokeswoman, the situation at hand "has been caused by escalation of an entire complex of issues."

"We call on all countries, interested in de-escalation and strengthening of regional stability, to review Russian proposal on setting up dialogue and creation of collective security system in the Persian Gulf region," she commented. "Russian approach to settlement of the situation is based on the principle of equal interaction of all regional and other interested sides, and strict compliance with the norms of the international law."

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