"Donald Cook's port visit to Odessa served as the third opportunity for our ship to engage with our Black Sea allies and partners in 2019," Commanding Officer Cmdr. Matthew Powel was quoted as saying in the release.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer entered the Black Sea on February 19. Last week, the US ship conducted maritime interoperability training with a Turkish frigate. The destroyer also took part in an exercise with the Georgian coast guard in late January.
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During the visit to Odessa, the ship hosted senior-level discussions between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker and US European Command Civilian Deputy to the Commander Philip Reeker, among other officials.
The US destroyer will depart the Black Sea on March 1, the Navy said.
Donald Cook has become the fourth US Navy vessel that visited Odessa since 2018, and the third US ship that has conducted operations in the Black Sea in 2019.
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