EU and US leaders playing 'dangerous game', says Russian ambassador to Ireland

Russian ambassador to Ireland Yuriy Filatov: 'War is not in our plans. If there is a war, it is not because of Russia.'

European and US leaders are playing a "dangerous game" of political "shadowboxing", the Russian ambassador to Ireland has said.

Appearing before the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs, Yuriy Filatov has also said the initial plans to conduct military exercises off the Irish coast were "not a big deal".

When asked by committee members about the amassing of troops along the Ukranain border, Mr Filatov said: "War is not in our plans. If there is a war, it is not because of Russia."

However, he said that the "decidedly anti-Russian actions and rhetoric" of the US, Nato, and EU leaders have reached a level of "absurdity".

"We are witnessing the daily drumbeat about 'imminent Russian invasion in Ukraine' as well as readiness by the West to respond to that 'invasion' with massive and destructive sanctions against Russia."

He said that any unbiased and serious observer would find that "not only there are no facts on the ground to support such invasion fantasy, not only Russia has stated repeatedly that it does not have any intention to attack Ukraine or anybody else, but there are not even hypothetically any political, economic, military, or any other reasons for such invasion.

Our conclusion is that a rather dangerous game of shadowboxing is going on for the sake of certain political agenda in Washington, Brussels, and European capitals." 

Mr Filatov warned that the rhetoric coming from the EU and the US is now "dangerous" because it might push the current Kiev government to undertake another military adventure in the east of the country, which would be catastrophic for Ukraine and for all of Europe.

Pressed on plans to carry out manoeuvres off Ireland's southern coast, which were changed following lobbying from Irish fishermen and interventions from Simon Coveney, the ambassador said "it was not a big deal to begin with and it is not a big deal now". He added that the Russian navy is "within its right" to perform military exercises.

Mr Filatov dismissed suggestions that the exercise had been planned to send a message to European countries, stating that the scale of the manoeuvres, which would involve two ships, is not enough to send such a message.

'No message'

"There is no message in that. There is nothing behind it, no message," he said.

He added that there had been "plenty of amusing stories" about "frantic exchanges" before a decision was made to move the exercise, but he said there was "nothing frantic" about the issue.

Meanwhile, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has written to Mr Coveney, demanding a "prompt response" on whether Ireland had changed its attitude to previous commitments on European security, signed since the Cold War.

"We want to receive a clear answer on how our partners understand their obligation [on this principle] ... How exactly does your Government intend to fulfil this obligation in practice under present conditions," the letter stated.

"If you renounce this obligation, we request that you clearly state so."