US destroyer in the Black Sea

USS Porter to Get Same Treatment as USS Donald Cook as It Enters Black Sea?

Russia: "Of course, this does not meet with our approval and will undoubtedly lead to response measures.”

The USS Porter, like the USS Donald Cook, is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer

Originally appeared at Zero Hedge

Having sent not one but two aircraft carriers into the Mediterranean in what, as we reported yesterday, was meant to be a "clear message to Russia", the US decided to further antagonize Russia when on Monday it sent the US destroyer Porter in the Black Sea "for a series of drills with allies and forces of partner nations in what the United States called a routine deployment", the US Navy announced.  To be sure, the US Navy was quite clear about its intentions with these deployments: “It provides some needed presence in the Med to check…the Russians,” the official said. “The unpredictability of what we did with Truman kind of makes them think twice.”

Well, as we said yesterday, "we expect Russia to respond promptly", and sure enough it did just that when earlier today the Russian Foreign ministry, cited by Reuters, said Moscow would respond to a U.S. naval ship's entry into the Black Sea with unspecified measures, saying it and other deployments were designed to ratchet up tensions ahead of a NATO summit, the RIA news agency reported. And this time, the US is not covering up behind some fake diplomatic pretext, and freely admits its intention is to fully antagonize Russia by sending a heavily armed vessel in what is the Russian equivalent to the Gulf of Mexico.

Russian state media reported that the USS Porter, a U.S. naval destroyer, entered the Black Sea a few days ago on a routine deployment, a move it said raised hackles in Moscow because it had recently been fitted with a new missile system. Of course, this is in addition to the two aircraft carriers already on location in the Mediterranean as the US is seemingly eager to dramatically escalate tensions with Russia, this time over sea

"Of course, this does not meet with our approval and will undoubtedly lead to response measures," RIA cited Andrei Kelin, a senior Foreign Ministry official, as saying about the USS Porter's movements. He also said the deployment of U.S. aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean was a show of force which in his view deepened a chill in ties between Moscow and Washington caused by Russia's actions in Ukraine and Syria."

As regards the overall situation of course there is a definite increase and stoking of tensions in our relations," he was quoted as saying. 

“There is nothing special about the movement of US vessels in this case. We know that aircraft carriers are moving in the Mediterranean Sea and elsewhere, they have a right to do so, this is freedom of navigation,” he said. “But in general, this is a definite increase in [Russia-US] relations and all this is done ahead of the NATO summit in Warsaw – this is a demonstration of force,” he added.

While we don't know what the "unspecified measure" that Russia will respond with is just yet, it is certain to provoke further escalation between the two military superpowers, which as covered extensively in the recent past, have also escalated in the nuclear arena to the point where security experts are warning that the "Risk Of Nuclear Dirty Bomb Is Rising On Poor US-Russia Relations."

Sadly, it increasingly looks like that just the first great depression ended in global conflict, war in some capacity is inevitable this time as well.

Russia Vows Countermeasures After US Vessel Enters Black Sea

Months after Russian jets responded to the USS Donald Cook in the Baltic, a US destroyer is now testing the waters of the Black Sea.

Sputnik,

10 June, 2016

On Monday, the guided-missile destroyer USS Porter entered the Black Sea to participate in bilateral military exercises as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve.

"The United States continues to demonstrate its commitment to the collective security of our NATO allies and support for our partners in Europe," reads a statement from the US Navy, adding that the ship’s operations are meant to "enhance maritime security and stability, readiness, and naval capability with our allies and partners."

The Russian government has criticized the presence of a US warship near its borders as a provocation and has vowed to take necessary countermeasures.

"American warships do enter the Black Sea now and then. Certainly, this does not meet with [Russia’s] approval and will undoubtedly lead to planning response measures," said Andrey Kelin, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s European Cooperation Department.

Kelin also expressed disapproval of the USS Harry S. Truman’s deployment to the Mediterranean, ahead of NATO’s Warsaw summit in July, a move he described as an obvious "show of power."

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"There is nothing special about the movement of US vessels in this case. We know that aircraft carriers are moving the Mediterranean Sea and elsewhere, they have a right to do so, this is freedom of navigation," he said.

"But in general, this is a definite increase in [Russia-US] relations and all this is done ahead of the NATO summit in Warsaw – this is a demonstration of force."

The USS Porter is expected to make port calls while operating in the Black Sea.

"We will see how things move forward," Kelin said. "But overall, we can absolutely not give up on the most important channel of cooperation and dialogue."

Speaking with radio Zvezda, military expert Viktor Murakhovsky also condemned the presence of American warships near Russia’s borders.

US Air Force Europe Commander Gen. Frank Gorenc said that the US government’s increase of European Reassurance Initiative funds in fiscal year 2017 to develop airfields in Eastern Europe will enable NATO to strengthen its presence there.

"Permanent deployment of US destroyers in the European theater of war is already a provocation," he said, noting that there are four other similar US vessels permanently stationed at a Spanish naval base.

In April, the USS Donald Cook sailed near Russian waters in the Baltic Sea, resulting in its interception by a pair of Su-24 bomber jets. US officials described the jets’ maneuvers as "aggressive," as well as "unsafe and unprofessional."

Writing about the incident for The American Conservative, political commentator Pat Buchanan observed that "the Russian planes carried no missiles or bombs." This, he argued, was an indication that their "message [was]: What are the Americans doing here?"

"US warships based in Bahrain confront Iranian subs and missile boats in the Gulf. Yet in each of these regions it is not US vital interests that are threatened, but the interests of allies who will not man-up to their own defense duties, preferring to lay them off on Uncle Sam," Buchanan said.

"And America is beginning to buckle under the weight of its global obligations."