Nato members hold naval exercise near Crimea

Nato's Black Sea members Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey joined the US, Canada, Germany and Italy in a multinational naval exercise just across the water from the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia last year.

The naval rapid reaction force in the Black Sea drills consists of a US flagship, the guided missile cruiser USS Vicksburg, and ships from the six other participating states.

Nato has held a series of exercises in eastern Europe since the Russian army's move into the region to reassure members jittery about Russian intentions in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.

The training will reportedly include simulated anti-air and anti-submarine warfare exercises, as well as simulated small boat attacks and basic ship handling manoeuvres.

Russian exercises

Last week, Russia’s ministry of defence said its forces had begun large-scale military exercises in southern Russia and in disputed territories on Russia’s borders, including the Crimea region.

Relations between Russia and the West are at their most strained since the Cold War. The Ukrainian government and the West accuse Russia of directing a separatist assault in eastern Ukraine with its own troops and weapons. Russia denies those accusations.

Once a close ally of the Soviet Union, Bulgaria joined Nato in 2004 and is one of six eastern European countries that will host new command units staffed with national and Nato soldiers, that are being set up in response to the Ukraine crisis.

US training

About 750 US army tanks and other pieces of military equipment arrived in Latvia on Monday as part of a training mission to reassure Nato allies worried about potential Russian aggression due to the Ukraine crisis.

Some 3,000 members of an infantry combat team will begin flowing into the region next week as part of a 90-day deployment to participate in multinational training missions with Nato partners in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

A Pentagon spokesman said the mission was part of the US military’s Operation Atlantic Resolve, aimed at demonstrating commitment to Nato allies in light of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

The spokesman said the equipment was part of a regular armoured brigade combat team set, and included two battalions of tanks, two battalions of fighting vehicles, artillery and helicopters.

Reuters