Russia expects US to abandon ‘irresponsible’ plans to dominate Black Sea

Russia says it expects the United States to abandon its "irresponsible" plans to control the Black Sea, after the US navy's 6th fleet deployed its command ship Mount Whitney to the strategic region to take part in multinational drills, amid escalating tensions over NATO activities near Russia's borders.

"This is, of course, an open attempt to test the Russian reaction, to increase tensions in the Black Sea region," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing on Wednesday.

"All this fits into the concept of containment, the creation of some very aggressive situations, the destabilization of the situation in general," she added.

Zakharova went on to say that, "This all leads to a decrease in predictability, seriously increases the risk of escalation," expressing hope that "common sense in Washington exists and that it, if available, will prevail over irresponsible plans to achieve dominance in the Black Sea."

Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized the US-led NATO activity near Russia's borders and said his country's forces could observe the USS Mount Whitney "through binoculars or in the crosshairs of its... defense systems."

Russia's Defense Ministry said the country's armed forces were continuously and closely monitoring the situation, adding that Russia's Black Sea fleet was carrying out a set of measures to track the US warship deployments in the area.

The latest deployment of US warships to the Black Sea took place amid rising tensions along the Russian-Ukrainian border.

Putin and other top Russian officials have previously warned that the expansion of NATO activities in Ukraine represents a "red line" for Moscow.

SS