The situation in the Black Sea region can be called tense for a year, and the degree of tension is unlikely to decrease. Military expert Vladislav Shurygin told Izvestia on Friday, November 26.
"All this time, regardless of the number of US and NATO ships in the Black Sea, it has not changed. The degree of tension has always remained quite high. Obviously, it will not decrease. We must admit that the Americans are creating a permanent grouping of NATO ships in the Black Sea, which, of course, they themselves will lead," he said.
The expert suggested that the warships of the United States and its allies will enter the Black Sea on a permanent basis — this can already be considered as a working moment. And from time to time they will begin to gather in groups to conduct exercises, he added.
"All this, of course, does not contribute to detente and leads to a big confrontation," Shurygin concluded.
The day before, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the Russian military began tracking the US Navy missile destroyer Arleigh Burke in the Black Sea. He entered the Black Sea earlier that day. The US Sixth Fleet noted that NATO allies and partners are operating in the region to ensure a safe, stable and reliable marine environment, as well as to strengthen partnership potential.
On November 17, the missile destroyer USS Porter left the Black Sea, which it entered on October 30 in order to participate in exercises with NATO allies and partners in the region.
Since arriving in the Black Sea, the ship has conducted maneuvering exercises with the Blue Ridge-class control ship USS Mount Whitney, the flagship of the US Sixth Fleet of the USNS John Lenthall class, as well as ships of the Bulgarian, Romanian, Turkish and Ukrainian fleets.
In October, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer called on the North Atlantic Alliance to demonstrate to Russia its readiness to use weapons if necessary. According to her, Russia allegedly constantly violates the airspace of the Baltic states and in the Black Sea.
In turn, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that NATO should stop provocative activities at the Russian borders in order to find a way out of the current tense situation in relations between Russia and the West.
According to the Montreux Convention, ships of countries that do not go to the Black Sea cannot stay in the Black Sea for longer than 21 days.