MOSCOW. Nov 30 (Interfax) - The Russian Foreign Ministry has presented a resolute demarche to the United States over the USS John S. McCain's entry into Russia's territorial sea by more than two kilometers in Peter the Great Gulf on November 24.
"A resolute demarche has been presented to the American side via military-diplomatic channels. In this water area, ships are supposed to abide by international law and the Russian Federation's legislation concerning peaceful passage through its territorial sea. These requirements were purposefully breached with the intention of calling into question Peter the Great Gulf's international legal status," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday evening.
"The Russian Foreign Ministry declares strong protest in this regard. We qualify the incident as a blatant provocation aimed at violating peace and good order," the statement said.
"The fact of an American warship's entry into the Russian Federation's territorial sea does not produce and cannot produce any international legal consequences for the status of the relevant water territory," it said.
"We urge the U.S. to refrain from such reckless acts in the future, otherwise responsibility for the possible consequences will rest fully with the American side. We reserve the right to counteract," the statement said.
"Washington is well aware of Russia's position concerning this water territory, which is our country's internal sea and to which the Russian Federation's sovereignty applies. Any attempts to claim otherwise are unacceptable. Obviously, through such 'saber-rattling', the U.S. is purposefully seeking to worsen tensions, which manifests yet again that it gives priority to forcible methods in defending its own foreign political positions at this historical point in time," it said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on November 24 that a U.S. destroyer had entered into Russia's territorial waters in Peter the Great Gulf by about two kilometers and left the area only after a Russian warship warned it that it could perform a ramming maneuver.
The U.S.' 7th Fleet said later that its destroyer conducted a freedom of navigation operation in the Sea of Japan without violating internationally recognized borders.
Russia considers Peter the Great Gulf, the largest gulf in the Sea of Japan near Russia's coast, its territorial waters under international law, while some other countries, including the U.S., do not fully recognize this status.