US 6th Fleet Flagship Enters Black Sea for Drills With Ukraine - Naval Forces

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Sea Breeze exercises are annual multinational drills that train maritime, air defense, anti-submarine, and search and rescue operations, with the aim to strengthen cooperation among NATO allies to ensure stability in the Black Sea region.

USS Mount Whitney, the flagship of the United States Sixth Fleet, has entered the Black Sea for joint US-Ukrainian exercises dubbed Sea Breeze-2018, the United States Naval Forces Europe said.

#USSMountWhitney 🇺🇸 enters #BlackSea for Exercise #SeaBreeze. MTW CO Capt. Aguilar: We look fwd to working w/ @NATO allies & partners to promote peace & economic stability. MTW's presence assures them our commitment to maritime security #SteadyPresence https://t.co/nfLpPyeoST pic.twitter.com/DzHz4lXR9v

— U.S. Naval Forces Europe (@USNavyEurope) 7 июля 2018 г.

​The statement also noted that the drills aimed to promote peace and economic stability, while ship’s presence in the region assured NATO allies and partners of the US commitment to maritime security.

The U.S. 6th Fleet command and control ship #ussmountwhitney @USNavyEurope @USNavy #istanbul pic.twitter.com/BIweGcUy8O

— Hakan Celik (@hakanchelik) 7 июля 2018 г.

​READ MORE: Moscow Takes Measures to Ensure Security Amid NATO Drills in Baltics — Official

In early July, Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said that the drills would test the implementation of NATO standards by the Ukrainian Armed Forces as well as their interoperability with the alliance’s ships.