The guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG-71) entered the Black Sea over the weekend, the fourth time in 2019 a U.S. Navy ship entered the body of water.
Ross is “conducting maritime security operations and enhancing regional maritime stability, combined readiness and naval capability with NATO allies and regional partners,” according to a statement released Monday by U.S. 6th Fleet.
“Our allies in the Black Sea continue to play a key role in maintaining security in the European theater,” Cmdr. Dave Coles, commanding officer of Ross, said in the statement. “The crew and I look forward to enhancing our interoperability in a dynamic environment as well as experiencing the rich history and culture in this region.”
However, Russia has long considered the presence of warships from non-Black Sea nations as a threat and regularly tracks their movements from the sea and air.
“The Black Sea Fleet forces are constantly monitoring the movement of the U.S. Navy’s Ross guided-missile destroyer that entered the Black Sea on April 14, 2019,” said a statement issued by the Russian National Defense Management Center, reported by the state-run TASS news agency.
A Russian Navy Vasily Bykov-class patrol vessel and Russian Navy reconnaissance ship Ivan Khurs were reported to be monitoring Ross’ movements, according to the TASS report.
With the recent uptick of NATO activity in the Black Sea, political commentators in Moscow are pushing their government to call for a rethinking the Montreux Convention, according to an April report by regional expert Paul Goble for the Jamestown Foundation in Washington D.C.
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