Second US destroyer arrives in Europe

A US guided-missile destroyer arrived on Monday at the Spanish naval port of Rota amid escalating tensions with Russia over the recent crisis in Ukraine.

Joining USS Donald Cook which has been at the Naval Station Rota in Spain since February, the guided-missile destroyer USS Ross is the second of four Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to be deployed to the station.

The four US Navy destroyers are considered to be the cornerstone of NATO’s European missile system. Moscow has said that it considers the system to be a direct threat to its security.

“On the global and regional stage, we are allies, and we share a common interest in maintaining a Europe that is safe, secure and prosperous. We work closely together with the NATO Alliance, with other partners across the region, and nation to nation as well,” said Vice Adm. Phil Davidson, commander of the US 6th Fleet, upon the USS Ross’ arrival.

In a January statement, US Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said that deploying the four destroyers “in Rota will enable us to be in the right place, not just at the right time, but all the time.”

Russia says the USS Donald Cook has been involved in conducting surveillance on Russian infrastructure amid the escalating political crisis in Ukraine. In response, Moscow has threatened to increase its own arsenals and missile shield piercing capabilities.

Tensions between Washington and Moscow intensified over the crisis in Ukraine, especially following a March referendum in the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in which people overwhelmingly voted to join the Russian Federation.

Following the referendum, the US imposed sanctions against some Russian individuals and entities, including SMP Bank and Bank Rossiya. However, despite repeated threats, Washington has not yet announced any sanctions that would target key sectors of the Russian economy.

Moscow has also imposed sanctions on a number of US officials including House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez, and Sen. John McCain.

On Monday, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland, told a think tank in Washington that the US has closed ranks with its European allies to impose further sanctions on Russia.

Nuland, who revealed late last year that the US provided billions of dollars to overthrow the democratically-elected government of Victor Yanukovych in Ukraine, said Washington and it European allies are “now working on a series of sanctions in the energy sector, in the banking sector, in the defense sector.”