MOSCOW, April 23 (RIA Novosti) – The arrival of another US warship to the Black Sea is nothing more than “an attempt to fan the flames” and “a display of insolence,” the chairman of the All-Russian Movement for Fleet Support Mikhail Nenashev told RIA Novosti Wednesday.
“I would call the US behavior in the Mediterranean-Black Sea region a continuation of tensions toward Russia and pressure on EU allies,” Nenashev said.
“Apart from economic measures of aggression against the country that simply met the demands of its compatriots, they see the use of naval forces as a key instrument,” he added.
Media reports earlier emerged suggesting that the USS Taylor entered Black Sea waters Tuesday, allegedly to secure peace and stability in the region. Later a source in the Russian Navy confirmed this information to RIA Novosti.
Nenashev suggested that similar moves on the part of the United States might continue in the future but said that the Russian military was comfortable with the behavior.
“I think, there will be intrusions on a regular basis very soon. And the desire to demonstrate its impudence should get a response on our part because the attempts to fan the flames might trigger anxieties in neighboring countries, but not in Russia,” Nenashev said.
“We always know how to respond at a crucial moment,” he added.
The US Navy has been particularly active in the Black Sea since mid-February, when the USS Taylor frigate together with the USS Mount Whitney was deployed to the region, which ran ashore off Turkey, staying past its allotted time under an international agreement in the Black Sea.
Earlier this month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Turkey and the United States of violating the Montreux Convention of 1936 which says that foreign vessels can stay in the Black Sea for a maximum of 21 days.
The USS Donald Cook, a destroyer equipped with the Aegis combat system, entered the Black Sea earlier this month.
