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Putin says Patriot missiles in Turkey not to ease tensions on Syrian border

Other News Materials 4 December 2012 01:28 (UTC +04:00)
President Vladimir Putin said the deployment of Patriot missiles in Turkey will not ease tensions on the Turkish-Syrian border and called for restraint.
Putin says Patriot missiles in Turkey not to ease tensions on Syrian border

President Vladimir Putin said the deployment of Patriot missiles in Turkey will not ease tensions on the Turkish-Syrian border and called for restraint, ITAR-TASS reported.

"If at the start of a play there is a rifle on the wall, it will fire by all means in the end," Putin said, commenting on a possible deployment of Patriot missiles in Turkey in response to Syrian attacks.

"Why should we need unnecessary shooting on the border?" he asked. "We share Turkey's concern about events on the border but we call for restraint because the creation of additional [military capabilities] does not ease tensions," Putin said.

"We are a guarantor of what happens in region but I am convinced, and you understand this clearly, that Syria has more urgent things to deal with than attack its neighbours. They cannot sort things out themselves," the president said.

"What is happening on the Syrian-Turkish border, involving attacks on Turkish territory, is a pure incident," he said.

"You and we understand, and one does not have to be a specialist or even use secret services' information to understand that Syria has more urgent things to deal with than attack its neighbours," Putin said.

"But there is no doubt that we all must try to stop the violence," he added.

Presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said earlier that the deployment of Patriot missiles in Turkey "is a matter of concern to Russia and does not help stabilise the already shaky situation" in the region.

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