Lavrov Mocks UK Army Head’s Anti-Russian Statements

• Lavrov Mocks UK Army Head’s Anti-Russian Statements
  by http://tass.com/, 25 Nov 2018
  UK army chief, Gen. Mark Carleton-Smith, said on Saturday that Russia was a far bigger threat for his country than the Islamic State terrorist group
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  LISBON, November 25. /TASS/. Commenting on the British army head’s warning that Russia posed a greater threat to his country than the Islamic State terrorist group, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov ironically expressed hope that London checks the appropriateness of such decisions.
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  “I heard about this statement. You know, we cannot stop anyone from demonstrating his intellectual or political skills,” Lavrov said at a news conference in Portugal on Saturday. “We cannot influence the British government’s decisions as to whom they entrust with commanding their armed forces. But I hope they check such decisions for appropriateness.”
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  The statement came as a response to UK army chief, Gen. Mark Carleton-Smith, who said on Saturday that Russia was a far bigger threat for his country than the Islamic State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia). In his first interview since taking office in June, the British general also said that Russia has already demonstrated its readiness to use force to protect its national interests and “has embarked on a systematic effort to explore and exploit Western vulnerabilities, particularly in some of the non-traditional areas of cyber, space, undersea warfare.”
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  Meanwhile, the Russian embassy in London said Russia had made a serious contribution to the security of the United Kingdom and other Western countries by fighting the Islamic State terrorist group (outlawed in Russia).
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  “The threat posed by ISIL to the UK has indeed decreased, and that to a large extent due to Russia’s efforts in Syria, which have been constantly hampered by London. In this sense, Russia has strengthened Britain’s security over the last several years,” the Russian embassy replied. “This is not what we could say about the UK, which in recent years has together with the US initiated an aggression in Iraq, destroyed the statehood of Libya and committed an act of aggression against Syria last April by launching a massive missile attack on its territory under a manufactured pretext.”
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