The radar integrated into European missile defense system that the Pentagon plans to install in Turkey will control a significant portion of Russian territory, said the head of Russian diplomacy Sergey Lavrov at the end of the meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels on Thursday, Dec 8.

“To control the regions south of the member countries of NATO, a radar already exists and works for a long time. It controls the area, there according to the Americans and their NATO colleagues, the threats emanates from. When the new radar is deployed in Turkey, its role will be simply to double the existing one, allowing at the same time to control a substantial part of Russia,” Russian Foreign Minister said.

In September, Turkey and the United States have signed the memorandum on the deployment of an integrated missile defense radar near the town of Malatya (Southeast). Currently, this region is already home to a radar built some time ago by the Americans before being transferred to the Turkish army, according to WReporter.com.