US CONSIDERING SENDING WARSHIPS TO BLACK SEA AMID TENSIONS OVER UKRAINE

Fri 09 April 2021:

The United States is considering sending warships to the Black Sea in the next several weeks in a show of support for Ukraine and as a warning to Russia, CNN reported on Thursday.

The US Navy routinely operates in the Black Sea, but a deployment of warships now would send a specific message to Russia that the United States is closely watching rising tensions along eastern Ukraine’s borders, the report cited an unnamed US defense official.

The United States is required to give 14 days notice of its intention to enter the Black Sea under a 1936 treaty, but it is unclear if a notice has been sent, the report said.

The US is reportedly already carrying out reconnaissance flights above the Black Sea intended to monitor Russian naval activity and surveil potential troops movements in Crimea, which Moscow seized from Ukraine and annexed in 2014.

Russia has also been propping up separatist rebel forces in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region since that year. The ensuing fighting has seen more than 13,000 people killed in the past seven years, according to the UN.

Most recently, Russia has been amassing forces along the border at a level unseen since 2014, according to the White House.

The anonymous official told CNN the US does not currently view the buildup as a prelude for offensive action but said “if something changes we will be ready to respond.”

The developments come after US President Joe Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week that Washington unwaveringly supports “Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression in the Donbas and Crimea,” the White House said following a telephone call.