Quote:
Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
I would also like to know if that is normal.
It sounds like a provocation to me. Would an armed American ship be welcome 200km off the coast of St. Petersburg... probably not. Perhaps it is something they do too though.
I agree that they can't appease Putin. There is a lot of territory that they would love to take (A LOT of the former S.S.Rs have significant Russian populations).
I didn't realize that Ukraine had a protection treaty with Britain and the US. I guess we will see what that is worth now. Having said that, has Britain and the US officially acknowledged the revolutionaries as the official government and do they inherit those treaties?
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Not really normal because of the distance and the fact that except for Subs Russian naval vessels don't venture that far out.
But this was something that Putin had announced last year as part of an expanded military relationship with Cuba.
Is it a provocation? you bet it is, this is no different then the American's putting subs in international waters outside of the big Soviet naval bases in the Atlantic, or the American's parking a carrier battle group off the coast of Taiwan.
And the story is a bit incomplete, its not one ship, its a Russian fleet being led by their flag ship The Cruise Missile firing Cruiser Moskva, along with a anti submarine Destroyer and a tender ship, as well as what is classed by a electronic spy ship.
The Moskva carries the SS-N-12 Sandbox, designed to be a multi purpose land and ship attack cruise missile with a range of about 500 kms, it can either carry a nuclear or conventional payload.
Right now if this story is true, America is well within firing distance of a surface vessel, and its blatent too.
http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/0...in-cuban-port/