MOSCOW. Dec 5 (Interfax) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's call to build up NATO's presence in maritime areas near Russia's borders is dangerous, Russian State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Leonid Slutsky said.
"We are against turning the water areas of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov into a bridgehead for confrontation," Slutsky told Interfax on Wednesday.
According to media reports, Poroshenko has called on the West to activate a new package of sanctions against Russia over the incident in the Kerch Strait, calling them "Azov sanctions," and urged "the unconditional buildup of NATO's presence in the Black Sea and possibly in the Sea of Azov."
Slutsky said that these are only words at this point.
"Let's see what practical actions may follow," Slutsky said when asked what steps Russia might take in response to a possible "increase in NATO's presence" in the two seas.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday that the Alliance has increased its military presence in the Black Sea region in recent years.
"In response to Russia's aggressive actions, NATO has substantially increased its presence in the Black Sea region over the past few years. At sea, in the air, and on the ground," Stoltenberg told journalists on Tuesday.
He said NATO members made it clear that the Alliance would "continue to assess our presence in the region."
"NATO's presence in the Black Sea makes a difference," and members have agreed to continue working together in the region, he said.
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