Lavrov joked about Deveselu base, Russia expelled Romanian diplomat

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov joked in response to a question from a Romanian journalist about the Deveselu military base in Romania. His words are quoted by RIA Novosti.

At Lavrov’s press conference following his participation in the high-level week of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), a journalist from Romania asked whether the base in Deveselu, where elements of the American missile defense (BMD) are located, is still included in the list of Russian targets. Lavrov jokingly replied that this information was hidden.

In May 2016, the ground stationary part of the American Aegis Ashore complex was launched in Deveselu. Then Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow would be forced to respond to the introduction of the US missile defense system in Romania.

Measures against diplomats

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has declared an employee of the Romanian Embassy in Moscow persona non grata. The measure was a response to the decision of the Romanian authorities to expel an employee of the Russian Embassy in Bucharest from the country.

Previously, it was reported that the charge d'affaires of Romania had arrived at the Russian Foreign Ministry. The diplomat left the department building nine minutes later.

Earlier, Romanian President Nicusor Dan condemned the growing number of incidents with drones and shifted responsibility for them to Russia. According to him, the country's authorities, together with NATO allies, remain vigilant in order to “protect the country and repel such provocations.”

Drone incidents

At the end of August, Romania's acting Defense Minister Radu Miruta said that an F-16 fighter jet destroyed a naval drone a few hundred meters from the Neptun Deep natural gas platform in the Black Sea.

Russian Ambassador to Romania Vladimir Lipaev commented on previous incidents with drones in Romania and emphasized that the foam fragments presented by the Romanian side, presented as “drone debris” of Russian origin, look like a propaganda staging.

On August 8, a drone flew into Bulgarian territory from Romania. It exploded about 100 meters from the border, near the Romanian and Bulgarian compressor stations. The drone could have belonged to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU); it was identified as the Maya decoy UAV.

Russia-NATO relations

Acting Romanian Defense Minister Radu Mirutse stated that Russia does not plan to attack NATO. He stressed that the intelligence services of the North Atlantic Alliance countries see no signs of a possible attack.

Earlier, the Russian ambassador in Brussels Denis Gonchar said that Russia does not intend to attack Belgium or any other NATO country. He noted that Moscow has neither the desire nor the reasons to attack the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance.