Russian MP warns US warships to stay away from Russian coast

The arrival of US warships in the Black Sea has nothing to do with US security and is motivated by political motives, Russian lawmaker Alexei Pushkov said on January 20, warning the US to stay away from Russia's coast.

The US guided-missile destroyer Donald Cook began moving to the Black Sea on January 19, "to conduct maritime security operations and enhance regional maritime stability and combined naval readiness," a US Navy statement said.

Russia's Black Sea Fleet began tracking the warship as it entered the area, RIA news agency quoted Russia's National Defense Control Center as saying on January 19.

"US warships are becoming regular visitors to the Black Sea. These visits have nothing to do with US security," Pushkov, a member of the Russian Senate's Information Policy Committee, wrote on Twitter.

“They have been ostentatiously sending us a signal and appeasing their senators, who are demanding that they send a whole military fleet to the Black Sea. They should stay away from our shores,” he wrote.

US Navy destroyer USS Donald Cook. Photo: Reuters

This week, a Russian court extended by three months the arrest of 24 Ukrainian sailors who were captured along with their ships in November in the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea to the Sea of ​​Azov. They are accused of illegally crossing into Russian territory.

The US and the European Union have called on Russia to release the men, but the Kremlin says they must be put on trial. No trial date has been set.

According to the international Montreux convention, US warships can stay in the Black Sea for no more than 21 days, RIA quoted the defense control center as saying.Russiasaid.

“Our arrival in the Black Sea will demonstrate the combined naval capabilities of pursuing common security objectives, allowing us to respond effectively to future crises or deter future aggression,” Matthew J. Powel, commanding officer of Donald Cook, said in a statement.