MOSCOW. Oct 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Two ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet will leave Sevastopol in early November and sail to the Mediterranean Sea to take part in NATO's Operation Active Endeavor, a source in the Navy Staff told Interfax-Military News Agency on Friday.
"The Pytlivy and Smetlivy guard ships will put out to sea on November 4 and head for the Mediterranean Sea. The ships are currently filling fuel and food stocks, and officers are taking the last instructions before the long cruise," the source said.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov earlier told reporters that the Black Sea Fleet ships will leave for the Mediterranean Sea and stay there until the end of this year and, probably, until early 2005.
The Russian vessels will join NATO's Active Endeavors operation, which is taking place in the Mediterranean Sea, he said. "Representatives of the Black Sea Fleet command and the NATO Navy command have met on a number of occasions to discuss the issue of interaction in operations, as well as the extent of Russia's involvement in this operation," the defense minister said.
"The activities of the Russian ships will be guided by international law set by the UN. They will counter actual threats - the spread of weapons of mass destruction and their components," he said.
"This will be our first common pancake (with NATO - Interfax). Time will tell how it will come out," Ivanov said.
Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov earlier told Interfax-AVN that a tanker of the Black Sea Fleet will accompany the two guard ships in the cruise to refill their potable water and fuel stocks.
NATO's Active Endeavor anti-terrorist operation was launched after the terrorist attacks against the U.S. in 2001. Its mission then was to control navigation in the Gibraltar and Suez Canal. In March 2004, the zone of the operation was extended to the entire Mediterranean.