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WASHINGTON, February 28. / TASS /. US Secretary of Defense James Mattis accused Russia on Tuesday of seeking to reshape international borders using force. Speaking at a Pentagon meeting with his counterpart from Montenegro Predrag Bošković, he congratulated Podgorica on "becoming an integral part of NATO, reinforcing the trans-Atlantic alliance."

"Together with other NATO members, we are confronting the common threats in the security sphere, against this is Russia, which seeks to re-force international borders by force, as well as to get the right to veto against diplomatic, economic decisions and security decisions taken by Europeans," - said Mattis. According to him, the United States will continue to urge Russia "to observe both the letter and the spirit of international commitments taken on."

Mattis stressed the US commitment to strengthening military relations with Montenegro. Boskovic, in turn, noted that, having joined NATO, Montenegro "successfully fulfilled its first foreign policy priority task."

Montenegro became the 29th member of NATO on June 5 last year. The Montenegrin authorities decided to join the alliance through the parliament they controlled on April 28. The opposition boycotted this meeting. The referendum on this issue was not held in the country.

As Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated on February 16 in an interview with Euronews, Montenegro is trying to play Montenegro as a bargaining chip in the Russophobe struggle.

"They were forced to join NATO, categorically refusing to hold a referendum," he said. "We believe that the line to" swoop "this territory to" suck "into NATO, contradicts all the oaths that were given to us when Germany reunited , that NATO will not advance even an inch. " "In the Balkans, they are trying again to make a kind of confrontation zone out of the" soft underbelly, "he added.

Link: http://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/4993190