Warning to Russia: US sending destroyers into Black Sea
The move is in light of Russia's buildup of ground and naval forces facing Ukraine. The U.S. Navy operates regularly in the area, but the dispatch of the Donald Kook and the Roosevelt is intended to send Moscow a message that the U.S. is monitoring the developments
Dan Arkin
| 12/04/2021
The USS Donald Kook. Photo: U.S. Navy
The Turkish authorities confirmed that two U.S. Navy destroyers, the USS Donald Kook and the USS Roosevelt, will enter the Black Sea soon. The development comes as the Russian military continues to pour massive amounts of forces, including additional naval units, into Ukrainian territory.
CNN and The Drive website report that the U.S. intends to demonstrate support for Ukraine in light of the buildup of the Russian military presence on Ukraine's eastern border. The U.S. Navy operates regularly in the Black Sea, but the dispatch of two destroyers is supposed to be a message to Moscow that the U.S. is closely monitoring developments.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry officially announced that it received a formal notice that the two American warships will soon transit from the Mediterranean into the Black Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, which are both Turkish territorial waters and thus such movements by vessels must be reported to Ankara.
A U.S. Navy spokesman, Commander Matthew Comer, said that as a matter of policy, the Navy does not provide details on the future movements of its vessels. Turkish television network NTV said that the two destroyers, the Donald Kook and the Roosevelt, belong to a unit that is forward-deployed in the eastern area of the Mediterranean, operating from the port of Rota in Spain.
The move is in light of Russia's buildup of ground and naval forces facing Ukraine. The U.S. Navy operates regularly in the area, but the dispatch of the Donald Kook and the Roosevelt is intended to send Moscow a message that the U.S. is monitoring the developments
The USS Donald Kook. Photo: U.S. Navy
The Turkish authorities confirmed that two U.S. Navy destroyers, the USS Donald Kook and the USS Roosevelt, will enter the Black Sea soon. The development comes as the Russian military continues to pour massive amounts of forces, including additional naval units, into Ukrainian territory.
CNN and The Drive website report that the U.S. intends to demonstrate support for Ukraine in light of the buildup of the Russian military presence on Ukraine's eastern border. The U.S. Navy operates regularly in the Black Sea, but the dispatch of two destroyers is supposed to be a message to Moscow that the U.S. is closely monitoring developments.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry officially announced that it received a formal notice that the two American warships will soon transit from the Mediterranean into the Black Sea via the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, which are both Turkish territorial waters and thus such movements by vessels must be reported to Ankara.
A U.S. Navy spokesman, Commander Matthew Comer, said that as a matter of policy, the Navy does not provide details on the future movements of its vessels. Turkish television network NTV said that the two destroyers, the Donald Kook and the Roosevelt, belong to a unit that is forward-deployed in the eastern area of the Mediterranean, operating from the port of Rota in Spain.
