Mr Coveney said that Foreign Ministers will be pushing Russia to "defuse tensions" along the Ukrainian border, where it has amassed troops in recent …
Summary
- The Government has told Russia that naval exercises off the Irish coast are “not welcome”, but Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has accepted that they are legal.
- Russian naval exercises are due to take place in early February, approximately 240km off the southwest coast and within Ireland’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) but not in Ireland’s territorial waters.
- Speaking to reporters at a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, Mr Coveney said that while there is nothing illegal about the drills, Ireland has told Russia that they are not welcome.
- And so we don’t have a power to prevent this happening, but certainly, I’ve made it clear to the Russian Ambassador in Ireland, that it’s not welcome.
- “Russia, under International Law of the Sea can, of course, undertake military exercises in international water.