‘No NATO country will taunt the Russians’ in the Black Sea<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Washington is working on a plan to send new NATO ships to the Black Sea in response to the November armed clash between the Russian and Ukrainian navies off the annexed Crimean Peninsula.<\/span><\/p>\n On April 3, the United States<\/span><\/a> announced its intention to strengthen NATO<\/span>‘s<\/a> military presence in the Black Sea by sending new ships. “We will ensure that we have the capacity to deter a very aggressive Russia<\/span><\/a>,” said US Ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison. She assured that the US proposal was aimed at “ensuring that there is a safe passage for Ukrainian ships through the Kerch Strait”<\/span><\/p>\n Now this\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n USS Ross in Souda Bay, Greece, shortly before sailing into the Black Sea. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n The guided-missile destroyer Ross arrived in the Bulgarian port of Varna this week for another round of military exercises in the Black Sea.<\/span><\/p>\n Maneuvers alongside the Bulgarian navy were slated to begin Wednesday and are designed to \u201cstrengthen interoperability with NATO allies and partners and demonstrate the collective resolve to Black Sea security,” according to a prepared statement released by the U.S. 6th Fleet.<\/span><\/p>\n Based in Rota, Spain, the Ross is the fourth U.S. warship to visit the Black Sea since Jan.1 and this bilateral exercise comes amid simmering tensions with Russia across the region.<\/span><\/p>\n In 2014, Moscow annexed Kiev\u2019s Crimean Peninsula, sparking an ongoing civil war in Ukraine\u2019s eastern provinces.<\/span><\/p>\n In November, Russian forces seized three Ukrainian vessels<\/a><\/strong><\/span> and their crews in the Kerch Strait<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, escalating the conflict.<\/span><\/p>\n The Russian state media outlet Tass reported<\/strong><\/span><\/a> Monday that Moscow\u2019s Black Sea Fleet \u201cis monitoring the movement of the USS Ross destroyer,\u201d with the patrol vessel Vasily Bykov and reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs specifically detailed to shadow the warship.<\/span><\/p>\n On Feb. 26, a sister Arleigh Burke-class destroyer \u2014 Donald Cook \u2014 made a port call in the Ukrainian port of Odessa<\/strong><\/span><\/a> following a visit to the Georgian port of Batumi.<\/span><\/p>\n The Ross is scheduled to visit Georgia and conduct exercises with Tbilisi\u2019s forces, too.<\/span><\/p>\n Backing separatist movements in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, in 2008 Russia battered Georgia<\/a><\/strong><\/span> in a brief war.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cU.S. 6th Fleet assets routinely operate in the Black Sea and Ross is part of our long-standing effort to exercise and engage in the region,” said 6th Fleet commander Vice Adm. Lisa M. Franchetti in the release.<\/span><\/p>\nWhy another US destroyer is prowling the Black Sea<\/h1>\n
Mark D. Faram \u2013 Navy Times April 18, 2019<\/h2>\n
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