The Interfax News agency reported they destroyed airborne targets of a
mock enemy with anti-aircraft missile
weapons and artillery. It said in a
statement Russia has previously warned western
countries against sending warships to
the black sea and approaching the coast
of Crimea the Peninsula annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Russia considers crimea
part of its territory but the peninsula
is internationally recognized as part of
ukraine.
The U.S Navy said on monday that the USS Mount Whitney had arrived in Istanbul
and that it would soon join forces with
other ships in the Black Sea. Following this port visit Mount Whitney
will join USS Porter DDG 78 in the black
sea to further enhance collaboration
between U.S and NATO forces at sea. The U.S Navy said in a statement the Kremlin on tuesday rejected as a
low-quality fakie u.s media report about
a russian military buildup near Ukraine
although it said it was up to Moscow
where it moved troops around on its
territory.
The Politico News outlet reported that
commercial satellite photos taken on
monday confirmed recent reports that Russia is once again massing troops and
military equipment on the border with Ukraine after a major buildup this
spring.
Ukraine said on monday it had not
observed any increase in Russian troops
or equipment near the border. A NATO official said NATO is vigilant
and routinely monitors russian force
movements, it's important to ensure
transparency and avoid any
miscalculation. Russia has repeatedly accused NATO of
carrying out provocative activities
close to its borders. The alliance says
it is determined to reinforce the
security of member states close to Russia following Moscow's annexation of Crimea and its backing for pro-russian
rebels in eastern ukraine.
Following the arrest of russian
opposition leader Alexi Navalny on
january 17 2021 Jake Sullivan, Biden's
national security adviser stated Mr Navalny should be immediately released
and the perpetrators of the outrageous
attack on his life must be held
accountable. The Kremlin's attacks on Mr Navalny are not just a violation of
human rights, but an affront to the
russian people who want their voices
heard.
On the day of Biden s inauguration Russia urged the new administration to
take a more constructive approach in
talks over the extension of the 2010 new
start treaty. Accusing the Trump
administration of deliberately and
intentionally dismantling international
arms control agreements and attacking
its counterproductive and openly
aggressive approach in talks.
On january 26th Biden and Putin agreed
that they would extend by five years the
new start treaty which would otherwise
have expired in february 2021. On march 17 2021 the Russian foreign
ministry announced that russia had
recalled its ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly on tone off for consultations in
a move that was characterized by the
ministry as spokesperson as being
without precedent for a russian
ambassador to the U.S the recall came
after Biden said he thought that Putin
was a killer and said he would pay the
price for the interference in the 2020
u.s election, which interference was
confirmed by a declassified dni report
released a day prior.
The state
department commented on the recall by
saying that while the u.s would work
with russia to advance u.s interests. They would be able to hold russia
accountable for any of their malign
actions. On april 15 the u.s announced the
expulsion of 10 russian diplomats and
imposed sanctions on six russian
technology companies as well as 32 other
individuals and entities. The new
sanctions also targeted ruble
denominated sovereign debt.
Nevertheless, the economic punishments were assessed
by observers as more bark than bite and
likely to be largely symbolic with the
ruble even rebounding against the dollar
on the news. Lyden commented the united states could
have gone further with the sanctions but
that he had opted for a milder form of
sovereign debt sanctions for now because
he wanted to avoid a cycle of escalation
and conflict. Russia retaliated the following day
expelling 10 u.s diplomats and
suggesting the u.s ambassador returned
home for consultations.
On may 19 the Biden administration
lifted sanctions on the north stream 2
gas pipeline that was being built
between russia and germany. While joe
biden believed the project was bad the
u.s state department explained it had
concluded that it was in the u.s
national interest to waive the sanctions.
In may 2021 Byden and Putin agreed to
meet as the relationship between the
countries was being assessed to be at
the lowest point since the 1980s. At the
meeting in Geneva in mid-june the
country's leaders reached an agreement
to return their ambassadors to their
posts in each other s capitals. no
progress was made in overcoming the
major points of contention.
On august 21st the department of state
imposed increased sanctions on Russia
for the alleged poisoning of alexi
navalny. These sanctions include a ban on
ammo imports into the united states as
well as restrictions of small arms sales.
