Russia warns US over extra troops in ME

MOSCOW: Russia on Tuesday called for restraint to avoid escalation in the Middle East after the US said it was deploying additional troops due to heightened tensions with Iran. "We are urging all the sides to show restraint," President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists in response to a question on the deployment.

"We would prefer not to see any steps that could introduce additional tensions in the already unstable region." The United States said Monday it has approved the deployment of 1,000 additional troops to the Middle East.

Acting Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan said the troops were being sent "for defensive purposes" as the US has blamed Iran for last week´s attacks on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Tuesday that US plans to increase its troop presence in the Middle East were aimed at provoking armed conflict. Such actions "cannot be seen otherwise than as a deliberate course to provoke war," Ryabkov told journalists, quoted by RIA Novosti news agency.