The US Porter’s landing in the Black Sea aims to demonstrate Washington’s commitment to free shipping. This was stated by the commander of the sixth fleet of the United States, Vice Admiral Lisa Franchetti, commenting on the movement of the destroyer.

“This planned operation - the seventh call of our destroyer to the Black Sea this year - demonstrates our commitment to freedom of navigation and to our NATO allies and partners in the Black Sea,” Franchetti said on the website of the US Sixth Fleet.

Earlier, the Russian National Center for Defense Management reported that the American destroyer Porter entered the Black Sea, after which the Black Sea Fleet (Black Sea Fleet) took him to escort.

The actions of Porter are controlled by the frigate Admiral Essen, as well as the small missile ships Vyshny Volochyok and Orekhovo-Zuevo.

The American side indicated that this is the seventh entry of the United States fleet into the Black Sea since the beginning of the year. In particular, in September, the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy took on a escort ship Yuma of the US Navy.

  • Frigate of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy Admiral Essen
  • RIA News
  • © Alexey Malgavko

In addition, the destroyer Porter already visited the Black Sea in August. The press service of the sixth fleet of the United States then explained these maneuvers by the need to maintain "regional stability."

“The naval operations that we conduct in the Black Sea with our allies and partners maintain the strong relations necessary for regional stability,” Vice Admiral Franchetti said in August.

Note that in 2018, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu pointed to the extremely high level of NATO activity at the Russian borders.

“NATO’s military activity at our borders has reached an unprecedented level since the Cold War. The alliance’s policy is aimed at strengthening its advanced military presence on the eastern flank, ”said Shoigu.

Then the head of the Ministry of Defense also noted that NATO has increased intelligence activity in the Baltic and the Black Sea region.

"The desire to be present where they should not be present"

Commenting on the presence of the American destroyer in the waters of the Black Sea, State Duma deputy from the Crimea Ruslan Balbek noted that Russia’s task in this situation is to maintain the security of its borders.

“The United States has a planned“ freedom of navigation, ”and we have the invariable security of maritime borders. Tracking NATO ships in the Black Sea is one of the elements of the daily life of the Black Sea Fleet, which performs two tasks - monitoring the water area and ensuring national security, ”the parliamentarian said in an interview with RT.

He pointed out that the American side pursues several goals at once, however, there are no violations in the US actions.

“Although by“ freedom of navigation ”Americans mean official visits, thereby killing two birds with one stone: to show themselves in the region and raise the morale of their allies - this does not violate international agreements on the Black Sea. The Black Sea is a truly free shipping region, and we are not going to hinder those who comply with the Montreux Convention, ”the deputy concluded.

Recall that the Montreux International Convention of 1936 states that warships of non-Black Sea states have the right to stay in its water area for no more than 21 days.

In turn, Vladimir Olenchenko, a senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at IMEMO RAS, is of the opinion that it is important for Russia to demonstrate to the American side that Moscow controls the Black Sea and carefully monitors the situation there.

“We cannot but be bothered if sources of military danger appear there. The US statements are self-initiative in nature, and their desire is the desire to be present where they should not be present, ”the expert said in an interview with RT.

In his opinion, one of the goals of the presence of US forces in the region is an attempt to maintain the degree of conflict in Ukraine.

“American military activation, including naval activity, is aimed at supporting this conflict, respectively, their goal is to justify their presence on the borders with Russia,” the expert concluded.

At the same time, the presence of NATO ships in the Black Sea region can serve the benefit of the Russian military. So, the Russian Ministry of Defense in April noted that the NATO Sea Shield 2019 exercises (“Sea Shield - 2019”) in the Black Sea helped the troops of the Southern Military District of Russia to fulfill their combat training tasks.

“Planned combat training activities are taking place against the background of the joint NATO naval exercises Sea Shield 2019, which served as a good help for the Black Sea Fleet and the Air Force and Air Defense of the Southern Military District to combine combat training missions in their mission in real conditions , - declared in department.

In particular, the forces of the Black Sea Fleet left their base in the Black Sea to strengthen the grouping of Russian ships. In particular, the detachment of ships of the Black Sea Fleet made the transition to the designated areas, where it carried out control and monitoring of the underwater, surface and air conditions.