Posted on 06/18/2016 9:20:41 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Russia criticized NATO discussions about a creating a permanent force in the Black Sea.
"If a decision is made to create a permanent force, of course, it would be destabilizing, because this is not a NATO sea," Russian news agencies quoted senior Foreign Ministry official Andrei Kelin as saying.
Russia, which annexed Ukraine's Crimea in 2014, has its own Black Sea Fleet based at Sevastopol.
The NATO summit takes place as relations between Russia and the alliance are severely strained over Moscow's role in the Ukraine crisis and in Syria. While Russia says it poses no threat to alliance, NATO is considering what to do to counter what it sees as growing Russian aggression.
Mabus said the United States follows the rules of the Montreux Convention, which states that countries without a Black Sea coastline cannot keep their warships there for more than 21 days. NATO members Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria are all Black Sea Basin countries.
Bulgaria appeared to buckle to Russian pressure on Thursday. Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said he would not join a proposed NATO fleet in the Black Sea because it should be a place for holidays and tourists, not war.
Also increasing tensions with Moscow is the U.S. Navy's deployment of two aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean ahead the NATO summit as Washington seeks to balance an increase in Russian military activities in the Mediterranean.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Beware of a “Wag the Dog” I do not trust Obama one millimeter or Kerry either.
Obama sure likes to stir the pot, doesn’t he?
I fail to see any US or NATO interests in the Black Sea unless the NATO members are actually endangered. Let’s not go looking for trouble.
“Also increasing tensions with Moscow is the U.S. Navy’s deployment of two aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean ahead the NATO summit as Washington seeks to balance an increase in Russian military activities in the Mediterranean.”
The U.S. Navy in the Mediterranean Sea or the Black Sea should not and does not increase tensions.
The U.S. Navy goes where ever it pleases.
Romania is a NATO member, and is being threatened by Russia.
You have to keep a presence unless you want to yield the Black Sea to Russian demands.
Global international waterways should be accessible.
Putin is a global tyrant.
We have made no demands that Russia stay out. We have as much right to as he does.
“The US has the same strategic interest in the Black Sea as it does in the Baltic Sea. In others words, no interest at all.”
Are there any other international waters that you would like the United States to cede to the Russians?
The US, of course, has every right to sail in the Baltic Sea and in the Black Sea.
Just as Russia has every right to sail just off the coast of Virginia, and China has every right to sail just off the coast of California.
But I’d rather all of the countries mentioned above not replace “has every right to” with “must”.
This is stupid on our part. Like the Russians keeping a fleet in Long Island Sound.
Time for them to either start picking up the massive amounts of slack or start paying through the nose. Let's start by exempting every single service member while in Europe from ANY VAT or other taxes. Direct credit card companies to do chargebacks for every VAT charged to a service member making a purchase under any condition. If they squawk too much, extend it to their dependents as well.
A small step which will save American service members billions over a year and really give Europe a big dose of reality just how much money we are blowing to cover their socialist utopia.
US warships may sail freely in the Black Sea under a freedom of the seas claim, but their passage through the Dardanelles is not free, in fact, it is quite restricted by treaty.
Six countries border the Black Sea. Three of them are NATO members...
Look for Russia to join NATO.
Sure this freaks out the Russians like a Russian fleet in LI Sound would freak out the US. But the problem is that three Black Sea states are formal military allies of the United States, and one in particular - Turkey - is a military rival of Russia's. The US is bound by treaty to come to Turkey's defense if attacked. Unlike Russia, the US is the lucky beneficiary of favorable geography.
That's been floated at various times, but won't happen because NATO is primarily an anti-Russian alliance. In 1954, the Soviet Union actually applied to join NATO and was declined for membership.
You mean like Turkey came to our aid during the war in Iraq?
Tuck Furkey!
Turkey isn’t worth the life of a single American Buck Private.
The Turks were a very effective ally in the Korean War.
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