New warship to come to Black Sea: Romania

As tensions grow between Ukraine and Russia, Romanian President Traian Basescu says the US will send another warship to the Black Sea after its guided-missile destroyer USS Donald Cook leaves.

Speaking to reporters in the port of Constanta on Monday, the Romanian president added that USS Donald Cook arrived in the Black Sea last week to carry out exercises aimed at improving interoperability, increasing readiness and boosting relations.

Basescu noted that a French vessel is also in Romania’s Constanta Port to show support.

The USS Donald Cook, which is a multi-mission ballistic missile-capable destroyer, crossed Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait on April 10 and entered the Black Sea, with sources within the Russian military saying the move is part of a systematic build-up of naval forces by NATO allies in the region.

The USS Donald Cook joined guided-missile USS Truxtun last month for joint military exercises with the Romanian and Bulgarian navies in the Black Sea.

Last month, Ukraine’s Crimea region rejoined Russia after residents in the peninsula voted in a referendum to break away from Ukraine.

Tensions began to build between Washington and Moscow following bloody protests in Ukraine which led to the ouster of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych.

Russia called the ouster of Yanukovych a Western-backed coup and annexed the strategic region of Crimea, a move that angered both NATO member countries and the United States.