Washington. November 25. INTERFAX-the US Navy has denied Russia's claim that the threat forced the USS John McCain to leave Russian territorial waters.
"The Russian Federation's statement about this mission is false. The USS John McCain was not "driven" from any country, " Lieutenant Joseph Cayley, a spokesman for the us Navy's Seventh fleet, said in a statement.
He added that the operation reflects the us commitment to " protecting freedom of navigation." According to him, the American ship "defended navigation rights and freedoms in the area of Peter the Great Bay in the sea of Japan" and "disputed Russia's excessive Maritime claims."
"The United States will never bow to intimidation or be forced to accept illegal Maritime claims like those made by the Russian Federation," Keighley added.
The Russian military Department on Tuesday evening published a video showing the large anti-submarine ship Admiral Vinogradov displacing the USS John McCain from the territorial waters of the Russian Federation in the Peter the Great Bay.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Russian defense Ministry reported that in the far East, an American destroyer entered the territorial waters of Russia for two kilometers in the Peter the Great Bay, left them after warning of a possible RAM from a Russian ship.
"Today at 6: 17 Moscow time, the us Navy destroyer John McCain, which has been in the sea of Japan for several days, violated the territorial waters of the Russian Federation in Peter the Great Bay, going 2 kilometers beyond the sea border," the Russian defense Ministry said in a statement.
"The large anti-submarine ship of the Pacific fleet Admiral Vinogradov, which is directly tracking the American destroyer, warned the foreign ship via an international communication channel about the inadmissibility of such actions and the possibility of using a ramming maneuver to oust the intruder from territorial waters," the military said.
"After receiving a warning and changing the course of a large anti-submarine ship of the Pacific fleet "Admiral Vinogradov" to the destroyer "John McCain", the American ship immediately went to neutral waters. The American destroyer did not make repeated attempts to enter them, " the Russian defense Ministry said.