Pentagon sends warship to safeguard Black Sea
The United States is preparing to send a warship into the Black Sea for the first time in four years, heightening tensions after the Russian seizure of Ukrainian sailors last month.
The US Navy sent notice to Turkey yesterday that the ship from the 6th Fleet, which is based in Italy, would pass through the Bosphorus. Under the 1936 Montreux Convention, Turkey cannot block the strait, which is an international shipping lane, but reserves the right to be informed before warships pass through.
Although Nato began sea and air patrols in the Black Sea last year, in response to a request from Romania for help to deter Russian aggression, this will be the first US deployment since April 2014 in the aftermath of Moscow’s annexation of Crimea.
The Pentagon’s decision follows repeated calls from Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko for Nato to come to his country’s aid.
The US Navy declined to confirm whether its deployment was linked to the crisis triggered when Russia seized 24 sailors and three Ukrainian ships in the Sea of Azov, accessed by the Kerch strait between Crimea and the Russian mainland, 11 days ago.
Commander Kyle Raines, spokesman for the 6th Fleet, said it was ‘‘always prepared to respond when called’’.
‘‘We routinely conduct operations to advance security and stability throughout the US 6th Fleet area of operations including the international waters and airspace of the Black Sea. We reserve the right to operate freely in accordance with international laws and norms.’’
In 2003 Moscow and Kiev signed a treaty that had the effect of making the Sea of Azov shared territory. Russia has been harassing Ukrainian ships close to the area since the summer, however. Washington called its seizure of the three vessels ‘‘a dangerous escalation and a violation of international law’’.
Nato announced last year that it was setting up a permanent Black Sea force in Romania, which shares the coastline with Bulgaria and Georgia along with Russia, Ukraine and Turkey.
The British destroyer HMS Duncan has led several exercises there. It was revealed last month that it had been buzzed by 17 Russian fighter jets in May as it sailed 30 nautical miles off Crimea.
Tensions have been rising in the Black Sea since Russia seized Crimea, a Ukrainian territory, in 2014, allowing it to use the region’s Sevastopol deep sea naval base to build up its Black Sea fleet, which it is primarily deploying to the eastern Mediterranean for use in the Syrian war.
Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, said on Wednesday that the Kremlin had information that the US was planning to build up its military presence in Cyprus, and warned that such a move would result in ‘‘dangerous and destabilising consequences’’.