MOSCOW. June 10 (Interfax) - The entering by USS Porter, a U.S. Navy destroyer, to the Black Sea poses no major threat but the increasing military presence there is a factor of instability, Konstantin Kosachyov, head of the Federation Council's International Affairs Committee, said.
"The entering into Black Sea waters by U.S. ships, in particular, the U.S. Navy missile destroyer USS Porter, which has been here since June 6, is certainly no cause for us to feel positive emotions," Kosachyov told Interfax on Friday.
"As far as I understand, a concrete U.S. vessel contains no serious threat to Russia. But our Foreign Ministry has warned, quite logically, of 'retaliatory-planning measures'," he said.
Literally a day earlier, the Russian Navy's newest frigate, "Admiral Grigorovich," arrived at its base in Sevastopol to become the first surface ship of remote maritime zone to have entered Navy service in 35 years, armed with, among others, Kalibr-NK cruise missiles and the Shtil-1 self-defense missile complex, the senator said.
"This is why USS Porter will definitely not be left alone and proud. But the military build-up in the Black Sea, especially by non-Black Sea states, per se, is a factor of instability which works against the common efforts to overcome the current crisis and tensions in the European relations," Kosachyov said.
The fact that the ship, as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, sailed up to the waters that are quite far from the Atlantic but close to Russia, is "yet another geographical absurdity at the level of names," he said.
"But of course, no one in NATO could be embarrassed by it. Nor by the reason for the presence of the U.S. ship, stuffed full of Tomahawk cruise missiles and the Aegis missile defense system, thousands of miles from the U.S., being allegedly 'to strengthen peace and stability'," the senator said.
The USS Porter will not sail near the Russian coast for long: under the 1936 Montreux Convention, states with no access to the Black Sea are not allowed to stay in its waters more than 21 days, he said.
"But what she definitely has not brought here is peace and stability. Because, as they say, she arrived here to demonstrate U.S. allies' support in the region. Given that among these allies are the recognized 'peace disruptors' such as Turkey and Ukraine, their support at this unfortunate moment is unlikely to cool down their belligerence," Kosachyov said.