The military exercises were set to take place in international waters in Ireland’s exclusive economic zone
The Russian Embassy in Dublin confirmed the site move for the drills, which are taking place between February 3 and 8, in a statement to RIA Novosti on Saturday.
The Embassy said that the planned military exercise will take place outside of Ireland’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
Earlier on Saturday, Simon Coveney, who holds Ireland’s foreign affairs and defense ministries, revealed that he’d personally asked Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu to reconsider the location of the drills.
“This evening I received a letter confirming the Russian exercises will be relocated outside of Ireland’s EEZ. I welcome this response,” Coveney wrote.
This week I wrote to my counterpart, the Minister of Defence of Russia, to request a reconsideration of naval exercises off the Irish coast. This evening I received a letter confirming the Russian exercises will be relocated outside of Ireland’s EEZ. I welcome this response.
— Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) January 29, 2022
Russian Ambassador to Ireland Yury Filatov called the move of the exercises a “gesture of goodwill” in a statement and said moving outside the zone was done with “the aim not to hinder fishing activities by the Irish vessels in the traditional fishing areas.”
