The Mediterranean Sea has always been important to the United States and its allies. It is of equal importance to Russia and Vladimir Putin. With the NATO summit coming up and two Navy aircraft carriers in the region as one arrives and the other departs for home. Russia in the meantime, seems to be quite uncomfortable. They will protest and fuss, but the Navy has been through this before. Just the other day, Russia said that they would challenge any United States Navy entry into the Black Sea. That sea is pretty much their bathtubs, like the Gulf of Mexico is of special interest to us. However, freedom of the seas applies to both.
By Andrea Shalal ABOARD USS HARRY S. TRUMAN (Reuters)
The U.S. military will have two aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean Sea this month ahead of a NATO summit in Warsaw as Washington seeks to balance Russian military activities and accelerate its fight against Islamic State militants.
The USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier will hand off to the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower when it arrives en route to the Gulf, allowing the Truman to head back to the United States after an extended eight-month deployment, Navy officials on board the Truman said.
The United States European Command later issued a statement saying the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group had entered the Navy’s Sixth Fleet area of operations, which includes the Mediterranean, on Wednesday “in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe”.
The move coincides with NATO military exercises across eastern Europe and Turkey that may raise tensions with Russia. U.S. officials say Russia is operating warships and submarines in the Mediterranean and plans its own exercises in coming weeks…….
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U.S. Navy boosts presence in Mediterranean ahead of NATO summitReuters