The US Department of Defence has taken a clear stance over the ongoing tensions between Moscow and Kiev, the Wall Street Journal wrote. The US Air Force OC-135 observation plane was flown near Crimea, the Ukrainian region seized by Russia in 2014, the Pentagon said. US, Canadian, German, French, UK, Romanian and Ukrainian observers were all aboard.
The last time the US carried out a similar military exercise was after the Russian invasion of Ukraine four years ago, US defence official said.
The Pentagon branded the flight “extraordinary” in a statement, saying it took place under the Open Skies Treaty.
This accord gives 34 signatory states the right to gather information about the military forces and activities of another one through military observation flights.
The official purpose of the Treaty is to promote transparency in military activities – but in this case it seems to have been carried out to show support to Ukraine as tensions keep growing with the Kremlin.
The “extraordinary” nature of this flyover is in the fact that it was requested by the arms control directorate of the General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces.
This is the second time in two days the US military make a move that Russia could see as provocative.
On Wednesday the US Navy sent its USS McCampbell, a guided missile destroyer, through the Sea of Japan, “in the vicinity of Peter the Great Bay”, the Navy said.
This move aimed at “challenging Russia’s excessive maritime claims” in a demonstrative “freedom of navigation” operation, they added.
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The US vessel was followed by a Russian destroyer and several warplanes.
The “challenge” was shrugged off and mocked by the Kremlin, who said on Thursday the vessel hadn’t come closer than 62 rules to Russian territorial waters, adding it got “away at maximum speed” as Moscow’s ships followed it.
The US have issued a series of statements pledging Washington’s support to Ukraine after the November 25 attack in the Sea of Azov.
The Pentagon said in a statement: “Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukrainian naval vessels in the Black Sea near the Kerch Strait is a dangerous escalation in a pattern of increasingly provocative and threatening activity.
“The United States seeks a better relationship with Russia, but this cannot happen while its unlawful and destabilising actions continue in Ukraine and elsewhere.”
And US President Donald Trump cancelled the face-to-face meeting between him and Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
He wrote on Twitter: “Based on the fact that the ships and sailors have not been returned to Ukraine from Russia, I have decided it would be best for all parties concerned to cancel my previously scheduled meeting in Argentina with President Vladimir Putin.
“I look forward to a meaningful Summit again as soon as this situation is resolved!”