NATO Ships Operate in the Barents Sea

Ministry of Defence of the Russian federation published today a short note by the National Defence Management Centre of the Russian Federation on monitoring NATO activities in the Barents Sea.

"The forces and means of the Northern Fleet began to monitor the actions of the NATO naval strike group as part of the guided missile destroyer : Porter, Donald Cook, Franklin Roosevelt of the United States Navy and frigate guided missile destroyer Kent of the British Navy, which arrived at 7:00 Moscow time on May 4, 2020 in the Barents Sea," said the Ministry of Defence.

U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa / U.S. 6th Fleet published today a report about this operation:

"Four U.S. Navy ships and a Royal Navy ship entered the Barents Sea, working together to conduct maritime security operations in the challenging environmental conditions above the Arctic Circle, May 4, 2020."

Vice Adm. Lisa Franchetti, commander, U.S. 6th Fleet, said “In these challenging times, it is more important than ever that we maintain our steady drumbeat of operations across the European theater, while taking prudent measures to protect the health of our force.”

It must be noted that U.S. Navy surface ships have not operated in the Barents since the mid-1980’s. The Russian Ministry of Defence was notified of the visit to the Barents Sea on 01 May in what the US 6th Fleet described as "an effort to avoid misperceptions, reduce risk, and prevent inadvertent escalation."

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