The operations of American warships in the Black Sea are "routine". Such a statement on Friday, April 9, was made by the official representative of the Pentagon, John Kirby.
"Conducting operations in the Black Sea and throughout the European Command is routine, and I'm not going to talk about hypothetical or future operations," Kirby said during a briefing broadcast by PBS.
He also said that the actions of warships in the Black Sea are coordinated with the Turkish authorities in the framework of the Montreux Convention. Kirby did not comment on the information that appeared earlier in the media about plans to send two American warships to the Black Sea.
"I do not intend to confirm the reports of the Turkish media. We regularly conduct operations in the Black Sea, there is nothing new here, " he concluded.
On the same day, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said that the increased activity of NATO in the Black Sea, associated with the planned passage of US warships through the Bosphorus Strait, complicates the security situation in the region. Grushko stressed that currently there are "appropriate notification mechanisms", which allows us to talk about contacts between the Russian Federation and Turkey in this matter.
Earlier in the day, the US warned Turkey that two US warships would pass through the Bosphorus Strait into the Black Sea next week. Ankara, in turn, later notified Moscow of Washington's plans. The US added that the vessels will remain in the Black Sea until May 4.
On the eve of the sources of the CNN channel reported that Washington's goal is to demonstrate its support to Kiev. The US Defense Ministry added that the sending of warships would allegedly be a "special signal" for Moscow that Washington is "closely monitoring" the situation near the borders of Ukraine.
Elena Panina, a member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, said that sending ships to the Black Sea could further aggravate the situation in the Donbas.
The Montreux Convention on the Regime of the Black Sea Straits was adopted in 1936. It restored Turkey's sovereignty over the Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits. At the same time, the convention reserves the freedom of passage for merchant ships of all countries through the straits.
