Russian Embassy in the US: West's Attempts to Test Black Sea Borders 'Doomed to Failure' - Sputnik International

Russia is warning Western allies that nothing good will come out of provocations in the Black Sea as any attempts to test Moscow’s willingness to defend its borders are “doomed to failure,” Russia's Embassy in Washington told Newsweek.

"Manoeuvres performed in the immediate proximity to the Russian shores with the use of U.S. and its allies' destroyers, as well as transport and landing ships—are a provocation," the embassy said in a statement commenting on the NATO and US-led Exercise Sea Breeze manoeuvres that ran from 28 June to 10 July.

    "Such exercises with imitation of landing operations and Special Forces training activities undermine security in the Black Sea region,” the statement added.

This year’s drills were co-hosted by Ukraine and the United States and comprised 32 ships from 32 nations, including Britain’s HMS Defender that was bombarded by a Russian patrol ship on 23 June after ignoring calls to leave the country’s territorial waters. The UK Ministry of Defence denied that any warning shots were fired near its ship, while Prime Minister Boris Johnson said its passage was “wholly appropriate” as it was using international waters.

A trove of discovered documents allegedly from the UK Ministry of Defence later suggested that the ship’s intrusion was not accidental but rather a planned provocation to affirm that London doesn’t view Crimea as an integral part of Russia.