MOSCOW (Bywire News) - On Tuesday, the United States received a warning from Russia to keep its warships at a distance from the Crimea "for their own good," accusing the US of trying to provoke Russia by deploying their ships across the Black Sea.
In 2014, Crimea was conquered by Russia from Ukraine. Recently tensions in eastern Ukraine have escalated between Ukrainian government forces and Russian backed troops, the fighting has led to the death of 14,000 people, according to Kyiv. As a result of the ongoing violence, two U.S. warships were planned to arrive in the Black Sea this week.
The West has raised questions around what they have called an excessive and unexplained increase in Russian forces nearby the eastern border of Ukraine and in Crimea, hence their recent deployment plans. According to Russia, they are free to relocate their forces however they please, even for defence purposes.
Sergei Ryabkov, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister was cited on Tuesday across several Russian news outlets, sending out a warning to U.S. warships in the Black Sea to steer clear, he went on to say that the possibility of an incident was very high.
Ryabkov was cited saying, "There is absolutely nothing for American ships to be doing near our shores, this is purely a provocative action. Provocative in the direct sense of the word: they are testing our strength, playing on our nerves. They will not succeed."
"We warn the United States that it will be better for them to stay far away from Crimea and our Black Sea coast. It will be for their own good," he added.
When approached for comment, the Pentagon has refused to discuss the deployment of the warships, claiming that the only ships that are routinely sent out to that region are by the U.S. military.
Russia's Black Sea Fleet, which is equipped with mighty missile and radar resources, is located in the Crimea peninsula.
(Reporting by Maxim Rodionov/Alexander Marrow/Klaudia Fior; Editing by Andrew Osborn)