President of Russia Vladimir Putin considers the US exercise of its NATO allies in the Black Sea as a “serious challenge”. He said this in TV channel comments “Russia 1”.
“Now the United States and its NATO allies are conducting unplanned, and I want to emphasize this, unplanned exercises in the Black Sea. Moreover, not only a rather powerful ship group has been formed, but also aviation, including strategic aviation, is used in the course of these exercises, ”Putin said.
The Russian President claims that NATO exercises use “rather old aircraft, but the point is not about the carriers, but the point is that they have military strategic weapons on board.”
“This is a serious challenge for us,” Putin said.
The Russian president noted that the Russian Ministry of Defense had a proposal to also conduct its unplanned exercises in this water area, but Putin considers this inappropriate.
“There is no need to further escalate the situation there. Therefore, the Russian Defense Ministry is limited only to escorting aircraft and ships, ”Putin said.
National Defense Control Center of Russia last week reportedthat a ship of the US Navy entered the Black Sea Mount Whitney and the Russian Black Sea Fleet of Russia began to follow him.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Lavrov considersthat NATO exercises in the Black Sea are due to “the desire of the United States and its allies to step up the policy of containing Russia.”
In the Ministry of Defense of Russia called “provocation” the presence of American ships in the Black Sea.
Formerly the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba pointed out the need for a greater NATO presence in the Black Sea after the situation with the Russian annexation of Crimea.
Militarization of Crimea
After the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russia has been conducting regular military exercises on the peninsula and in the Black Sea, and also imports military equipment, in particular, air defense systems.
In January 2018, in the area of Cape Fiolent, on alert interceded Russian anti-aircraft missile systems S-400 “Triumph”. In September 2018, the same complexes were placed in Evpatoria, and at the end of the year – in Dzhankoy.
In the General Staff of Ukraine, the actions of the Russian military in Crimea are called illegal.
Deputy Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN Yuri Vitrenko expressed concerns on the possible deployment of nuclear weapons by Russia on the peninsula. Former Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Sergey Krivonos reportedthat there are several facilities in Crimea where nuclear weapons may be located. He believes that the possibility of placing it on the peninsula is “quite large.”
In December 2020, the Kremlin’s representative Dmitry Peskov stated that Russia “Has the right to do whatever is necessary for his safety” in Crimea.
The UN General Assembly in December 2019 adopted a resolution calling on Russia withdraw your troops from the annexed Crimea and end the temporary occupation of the territory of Ukraine.
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