The Navy is patrolling Putin's back yard as the U.S. weighs a new Russia strategy
By: David B. Larter, February 6, 2017 (Photo Credit: MC3 Ford Williams/Navy)
President Donald Trump's appears eager to thaw relations with Russia, but for now the U.S. Navy continues to prowl the waters in Vladimir Putin's backyard just like it has for the past several years.
Two of the Navy’s missile-laden surface combatants are operating in the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea, conducting the kind of presence missions that have led to several confrontations with the Russian military over the past three years.
The destroyer Porter, which is forward deployed to Rota, Spain, entered the Black Sea on Feb. 2 and is conducting exercises with the Romanian Navy. The Navy has been sending its ships in and out of the Black Sea routinely since Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. In 2014, a Russian fighter jet made a close pass over the destroyer Donald Cook, a move the U.S. called “provocative and unprofessional.” The destroyer Ross had a similar incident in 2015. Both Donald Cook and Ross are also deployed to Rota.
https://www.navytimes.com/articles/the-navy-is-patrolling-putins-back-yard-as-the-us-weighs-a-new-russia-strategy
