Washington. January 21. INTERFAX - NATO has long been planning the Neptune Strike 2022 exercises, which will take place in the Mediterranean Sea, and their conduct is not related to relations between Ukraine and Russia, US Defense Ministry spokesman John Kirby said at a briefing on Friday.
"(These exercises - IF) were planned in 2020. But I will tell you, (these exercises - IF) were not planned in 2020, taking into account the transfer of (Russian troops - IF) to Ukraine, " he stressed.
"This is really a NATO naval exercise to test a wide range of naval weapons, which we want to make sure we can continue to develop," Kirby said.