Translated material
The Pentagon accused the Russian Federation of provocations after the "imitation of the bombardment" of the destroyer Donald Cook in the Black Sea
On Monday, the Pentagon made a statement in which he claims that the Russian bomber Su-24 (the “fencer” on NATO codification) on Saturday passed several times near the US Navy destroyer Donald Cook in the Black Sea, reports Reuters.
The representative of the Ministry of Defense Colonel Stephen Warren said that the Russian bomber flew 12 times at a small height near the American destroyer, accompanied by another Su-24, which was not approaching the ship. Warren called these actions of the Russian side “provocative” and “unprofessional” and noted that this violates both national protocols and previous agreements on military cooperation between the United States and the Russian Federation.
The incident lasted 90 minutes. The Russian plane approached the American ship at a distance of about one kilometer at an altitude of 150 meters. Warren claims that the Russian pilot did not respond to repeated attempts by Americans to establish a connection. Apparently, the bomber was not armed and was not a danger to the destroyer.
“I can hardly imagine that two Russian pilots have taken such actions on their own initiative,” the Agency quotes Warren’s speech. “The Russians have been violating international norms in Ukraine for several months and behave unprofessional. Continuing provocations and unprofessionalism do not help de -escalation of tension in Ukraine.”
At the time of the maneuvers, the destroyer patrolled the waters in the western part of the Black Sea, after which the ship returned to the Romanian port.
Donald Cook is the third ship of the American Armed Forces, which was sent to the Black Sea lately, RIA Novosti reports. In February, the United States sent a Taylor missile frigate to the sea. The ship sat aground along the Black Sea shores of Turkey, which is why it exceeded the deadline for legal location in the waters of the Black Sea. In March, the American destroyer Truxtun went through Bosphorus to the Black Sea to take part in joint military exercises with Bulgarian and Romanian ships. The ship stayed in the sea of sea for 14 days.
Meanwhile, Romania President Trajan Basescu said that Donald Cook was replacing, when he leaves the Black Sea, another US Navy ship will come, Reuters reports. In addition, the French ship is currently in the port of Constanta.
According to the Montreo Convention on the status of straits, warships of countries that do not have access to the Black Sea may be in its water area for no more than 21 days, and significant restrictions on the class and tonnage of the vessel have been introduced for them. Nevertheless, restrictions on the tonnate may be softened in case of noticeable reinforcement of the power of one of the parties.