Russia's President Vladimir Putin
Russia is holding naval and surface-to-air missile drills in the Black Sea region amid tensions with Ukraine and the West over the capture of three Ukrainian naval ships and their crews off the coast of Crimea last month.
Two submarines, the Rostov-on-Don B-237 and the Stary Oskol B-262, practiced emergency deployments for detecting, accompanying and destroying sea and coastal targets with rocket fire, the Defence Ministry said.
Submarine crews from the Black sea fleet were also due to practice deep dives and to work on techniques such as emergency surfacing, it said.
The statement did not give a start or end date for the drills or say if the submarine exercises were part of larger-scale drills in the Black Sea and on the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
A navigation warning to shipping published by littoral state Turkey's navy said that "firing exercises" were expected in the region from Dec. 3 to Dec. 9.
Separately, Pantsir medium-range surface-to-air missile systems in the east of Crimea practiced detecting, identifying and shooting down aerial targets, Interfax news agency cited a spokesman for the Black Sea Fleet as saying.
The exercises come at a time of heightened tensions between Russia and the West over Russia's seizure on Nov. 25 of two small Ukrainian armoured artillery vessels and a tug boat and their crews.
NATO foreign ministers discussed the Black Sea region with Ukraine and Georgia's foreign ministers on Tuesday while NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the U.S.-led military alliance had boosted its presence there in response to what he said were Russia's aggressive actions.
The U.S. eyes to strengthen its military presence in Cyprus, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Wednesday.A U.S. delegation recently inspected the strategic military objects in Cyprus with a view to use them for forward basing, Maria Zakharova told a news conference in Moscow.Further militarization of the island will have a destabilizing impact on Cyprus, as Moscow perceives such plans as anti-Russian and will take compensating measures, she said.- Russia denies US accusations of INF Treaty violationCommenting on the ultimatum by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who gave Moscow 60 days to comply with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty over its alleged violations, Zakharova said there were no violations from the Russian side.She said the U.S. allegations are baseless, and no evidence was offered to Russia to prove the U.S. position."Again we confirm that the INF Treaty is one of the key pillars of strategic stability and international security", she said.The INF treaty was signed in 1987 by then Soviet Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan and was largely designed to stave off the prospects of nuclear war in Europe.On Oct. 21, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw from the treaty.
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The Kremlin said on Wednesday that the United States was manipulating facts in order to falsely accuse Russia of violating the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces arms control treaty and create a pretext to leave it.The United States delivered Russia a 60-day ultimatum on Tuesday to come clean about what Washington says is a violation of a 1987 nuclear arms control treaty, saying it would be forced to start a six-month process of withdrawal if nothing changed.When asked about the ultimatum, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said statements from the United States and NATO were whipping up tensions.Saudi Arabia works on convincing Russia to join oil cutsRussia says US has shown no evidence it is in breach of nuclear treaty
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NATO on Tuesday called on Russia to return to full compliance with Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.NATO released a statement after the meeting of member countries’ foreign ministers in Brussels.“We call on Russia to return urgently to full and verifiable compliance. It is now up to Russia to preserve the INF Treaty,” the statement said.“The INF Treaty has been crucial in upholding NATO's security for over 30 years. Allies have concluded that Russia has developed and fielded a missile system, which violates the INF Treaty and poses significant risks to Euro-Atlantic security. We strongly support the finding of the United States that Russia is in material breach of its obligations under the INF Treaty,” it added.The statement noted that the U.S. and its allies have repeatedly raised their concerns with Russia, both bilaterally and multilaterally.It said Russia “only recently acknowledged the existence of the missile system, but without providing the necessary transparency or explanation.”“The United States has remained in full compliance with its obligations under the INF Treaty since it entered into force,” the statement said.“NATO will continue to ensure the credibility and effectiveness of the Alliance's overall deterrence and defence posture,” it added.Turkey expects ‘solidarity’ from NATO: Turkish FMRussia agrees on new Syria summit with Turkey, Germany
NATO calls on Russia to comply with INF Treaty
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday warned Russia against its alleged violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, giving Moscow 60 days to comply with the treaty.“The United States today declares it has found Russia in material breach of the treaty and will suspend our obligations as a remedy effective in 60 days unless Russia returns full and verifiable compliance,” Pompeo told reporters after a NATO Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Brussels.“We must confront Russian cheating on its arms control obligations,” he said.Pompeo said that the U.S. remains “hopeful” and added “there are relations that Russia can get on a better footing.”“The burden falls on Russia to make the necessary changes, only they can save this treaty,” he added.“If Russia admits its violations and fully and verifiably comes back into compliance we will, of course, welcome this course of action,” he added.His remarks came after NATO called on Russia to return to full compliance with the treaty.In a statement, the alliance said: “We call on Russia to return urgently to full and verifiable compliance. It is now up to Russia to preserve the INF Treaty.”Russia to hold 4,000 military exercises in 2019“Allies have concluded that Russia has developed and fielded a missile system, which violates the INF Treaty and poses significant risks to Euro-Atlantic security,” the statement said.“We strongly support the finding of the United States that Russia is in material breach of its obligations under the INF Treaty,” it added.The statement noted that the U.S. and its allies have repeatedly raised their concerns with Russia, both bilaterally and multilaterally.The INF treaty was signed in 1987 by then Soviet Secretary General Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan and was largely designed to stave off the prospects of nuclear war in Europe.On Oct. 21, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw from the treaty.Russia's Putin, Venezuela's Maduro to discuss financial help for CaracasCrimea power stations in sanctions row may face new delay
US warns Russia over ‘breach’ of nuclear treaty