A little over a week after Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin toured the Black Sea region to ratchet up tensions with Russia, the US 6th Fleet announced that the USS Mt. Whitney, the fleet’s flagship, would be operating in the Mediterranean and Black Seas working with NATO allies and partners (meaning Ukraine and Georgia) “to ensure security and stability in the region. Operating and exercising together demonstrates NATO’s commitment to maintaining freedom of navigation in international waters for all nations.”
The guided missile destroyer USS Porter, entered the Black Sea yesterday as part of that exercise with the Russians watching it very closely. “Troops and technical resources of the Black Sea Fleet are involved in monitoring the actions of the USS Porter, the US Navy’s guided missile destroyer, that entered the Black Sea on 30 October 2021,” the Russian National Defense Control Center said, reported TASS.
