Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday he was not alarmed by increasing U.S. military presence in quake-hit Haiti.
Countries around the world are sending aid to the impoverished Caribbean nation, where some estimates put the number of dead as high as 200,000 people, with 3 million left without shelter following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake on January 12.
Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Uruguay have already expressed their concern over the U.S. troop buildup in the disaster-hit country. French ambassador to Haiti, Didier Le Bret described Port-au-Prince airport as "an annex of Washington."
The top Russian diplomat said that in such situations military presence is justified "because it is faster and more effective, and sometimes there are simply no other resources."
He did, however, express the hope that countries involved in rescue efforts "will not take advantage of this country to attain goals not related to helping the Haitian people and the Haitian state, both in the desperate need of aid."
"We call for the rescue operation in this hapless country to be carried out in strict compliance with the principles approved by the international community for such kind of situations," he said.
According to the U.S. task force commander for Haitian relief, Lt. Gen. Ken Keen, the U.S. contingent in Haiti will soon stand at some 20,000 personnel.
MOSCOW, January 22 (RIA Novosti)
