The Russian Foreign Ministry declares a strong protest in connection with the entry of the US destroyer USS John McCain into the territorial waters of Russia in the Peter The Great Bay, and qualifies the incident as an open provocation aimed at violating peace and good order, the Russian Foreign Ministry said
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th November, 2020) The Russian Foreign Ministry declares a strong protest in connection with the entry of the US destroyer USS John McCain into the territorial waters of Russia in the Peter The Great Bay, and qualifies the incident as an open provocation aimed at violating peace and good order, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"The Russian Foreign Ministry is declaring a resolute protest in this regard. We qualify the incident as an open provocation aimed at violating peace and good order," the ministry said.
Washington is well aware of Russia's position in relation to this water area, which is the internal waters of the Russia and which is subject to Russia's sovereignty. Moscow stressed that attempts to assert otherwise are unacceptable.
Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry said that a US Navy destroyer had entered Russian territorial waters some two kilometers (1.08 nautical miles) in the Peter The Great Bay. After receiving a warning from the Russian Pacific Fleet's large anti-submarine ship Admiral Vinogradov, the US vessel immediately went into neutral waters.
The US Seventh Fleet responded by stating that USS John McCain had not been "expelled" from any country. The destroyer allegedly carried out an operation there to ensure freedom of navigation. The US military also said the United States did not agree that Peter the Great Bay was a "historical harbor" under international law. The statement claims that the system under which Peter the Great Bay became part of Russian territorial waters was declared by the authorities of the Soviet Union in 1984.
