The commander of the US Navy in Europe and Africa, Admiral Robert Burke, called the reason why NATO forces will open fire on Russian warships in the Black Sea.
According to Business Insider, the admiral said that when a foreign plane flies near NATO destroyers, the ship commanders decide for themselves whether it is preparing to attack or not.
According to Burke, the Russians are “provoking us to strike first”.
He noted that the Russian Navy constantly accompanies the alliance ships in the Black Sea. However, such interactions are mostly safe and professional, the US military said.
The admiral added that Russia has significantly modernized its armed forces, especially submarines, and has learned lessons from US military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
In mid-July, after the NATO ships entered the Black Sea, two frigates of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation conducted exercises, having worked out the destruction of a detachment of ships of a conditional enemy.
From June 28 to July 10, large-scale Sea Breeze military exercises were held in the Black Sea with the participation of Ukraine, the United States, Britain, Turkey, Romania and other countries. After that, the Russian president expressed concern about the “military development of Ukraine” by the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance.