Russia calls presence of US warships in the Black Sea a ‘provocation’
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu called constant visits of American and other warships to the Black Sea a "provocation".
"This is, you know, an almost constant attempt to test us, to check how ready we are, how much we have built the entire system along the Black Sea coast, in general in the south of our country. They (the United States) are not alone in this, in such inspections and in such campaigns," Shoygu said on TV Channel Russia 1.
According to him, the Russian military is watching all the ships of non-regional powers that enter the Black Sea with high-precision weapons on board.
On November 4, the flagship of the U.S. Navy Sixth Fleet USS Whitney entered the Black Sea. Russia said it was tracking the actions of the ship.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the presence of USS Mount Whitney in the Black Sea would contribute to security in the region.