WW3 Alert! Putin is Concerned over US Maneuvers in the Black Sea
Maneuvers of warships and aircraft of the North Atlantic Alliance in the Black Sea are a cause of “concern” for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
According to the press Secretary of the Russian President, Putin has repeatedly noted that NATO’s military activity in the Black Sea is “a matter of concern.”
Peskov said that Russia is paying “increased attention” in connection with the entry of American warships into the Black Sea. At the same time, according to Peskov, Putin has not yet contacted US President Joe Biden on this topic.
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the forces of the Black Sea Fleet monitor the actions of the flagship of the US 6th Fleet USS Mount Whitney and the destroyer USS Porter which are heading to the western part of the Black Sea.
The other day, the Russian Defense Ministry said that they consider the maneuvers of American ships in the Black Sea region as a potential theater of hostilities in the event of Ukraine’s decision to conduct a military operation to liberate the annexed territories and accused Washington of “creating threats to regional security.”
In addition, the Russian Defense Ministry suggested that the United States is planning a “certain provocation” and recalled the incident with the British destroyer near the annexed Crimea.
At the same time an EU official stated the presence of US warships near Russia’s coastline an unnecessary provocation.
An EU official has made surprising remarks this week, evaluating the presence of a pair of large US warships in the Black Sea. French member of the European Parliament Thierry Mariani slammed ongoing naval exercises by the USS Porter and USS Whitney as “clearly a provocation” by Washington.
“The presence of the ‘Mount Whitney’, flagship of the US Sixth Fleet and the USS Porter in the Black Sea, as well as the NATO naval maneuvers, are clearly a provocation of Russia,” Mariani said.
He issued the statements in an interview to Russia’s Sputnik: “Can you imagine what the American reaction would be if the Russian navy organized maneuvers in international waters off the American coast, near Washington DC?” he questioned.
The statements come as both US and Ukrainian officials, as well as Romanian leaders and other Black Sea NATO members, have urged a greater US military presence on the Black Sea, citing “Russian aggression”.
On renewed tensions over Ukraine, coming two weeks after Kiev officials accused the Kremlin of building up troops near Donbass and in the Crimea area, the French official said:
“This is very serious and could push Ukrainian politicians, the culprits of this widespread corruption, into a headlong rush action, for example into a hazardous military offensive in Donbass or an armed provocation of Russia in the Black Sea.”
And on NATO encroachment in eastern Europe and around the Black Sea, he said:
“NATO should have been dismantled at the same time as the Warsaw Pact was suppressed in the last century and the present expansion, and projection by NATO of military forces to the whole world is very alarming.”
The statements appeared to back provocative statements made days ago by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who said, “This is an almost constant attempt to test us, to check how ready we are, how much we have built the entire [defense] system off the Black Sea coast.”