The U.S. Navy sailed the USS McCampbell close to contested waters in the Sea of Japan on Wednesday, according to CNN. A U.S. Pacific Fleet Spokesperson, told the television network that Moscow lays claim to areas that ‘far exceed’ the 12 miles outside their internationally-guaranteed coastline, saying “The USS McCampbell sailed in the vicinity of Peter the Great Bay to challenge Russia’s excessive maritime claims and uphold the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea enjoyed by the United States and other Nations.” The USS McCampbell is a guided missile destroyer
Meanwhile, Russian Television broadcaster RT called the move a ‘stunt’ and reported “The last time a FONUP was conducted in this area was 1987, at the peak of Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union.’
This comes amid additional reporting from CNN that the U.S. is taking diplomatic moves to clear the way to send a U.S. ship into The Black Sea, after Russia recently fired on, and seized three Ukrainian ships and is still holding Ukrainian sailors, claiming the ships were sailing in Russian waters.
The Cipher Brief spoke with General Philip Breedlove, who retired as the Commander, Supreme Allied Command, Europe, to get a sense of what normal maritime operations in the region look like.
Breedlove: The U.S. has ten ships in the region all the time. We have four Aegis destroyers that are stationed at Rota, and we pretty regularly rotate one or occasionally, two of them, into the Black Sea to do what are called freedom of navigation exercises, just to point out that this is not a ‘Russian lake’, it is an international set of waters, and we cruise in those international waters.
The Cipher Brief: How should we interpret this on the heels of the seizure of Ukrainian ships by the Russians?
Breedlove: I believe that they have been increasingly belligerent and it's because we have not reacted appropriately and I mean ‘we’, the west. It's bigger than the United States. And any reaction that we might have would be far, far better if it was in conjunction with other allies, either as a part of NATO or other coalition of the willing kind of allies. I think we need to seriously address Russian intransigence. And we need to do that from a position of strength. If we just simply throw words out there, then we're going to get embarrassed, because the words mean nothing, and then Mr. Putin will do exactly what he wants to do. And then, it's clear to the world that the United States is impotent, and their words didn't mean anything.
The Cipher Brief: What would responsible preparations look like in this case?
Breedlove: We would need to, if at all possible, not do this solo. We would need to do this as a part of a group of allies, though we need to do it quickly. If it takes two months to build an allied response, then that's not right, either. We have to go in by ourselves then because the bottom line is, we need to address it. We need to address it in the short term. If we were to cruise a couple of destroyers, or a destroyer and a couple of frigates, or whatever we decide to send, if we send that right outside of international waters of say, Crimea or the Kerch Strait, that's a pretty good message.
The Cipher Brief: Do you think Putin might confront the U.S. if that happens?
Breedlove: I'm sure he will bluster and make noise. I do not think we could expect him to fire at the U.S. or ram us, like he did the Ukrainians. That wouldn't go well for the Russians. In the past, when we have dealt with Russia, we've always used sanctions. And that's it. We haven't done anything very seriously, diplomatically. This whole issue with Ukraine, we threw over the transom to Germany and France in the Minsk process. And we sort of stayed out of it. We haven't shown any leadership, and we need to show leadership. There's incredible information, I call it a ‘disinformation campaign’ out there by the Russians. We need to be addressing that. We need to be telling the truth aggressively, to address the disinformation that Russia has out there. Militarily, we did some small things when Russia went into Crimea, and then into the Donbass. I think we need to pull out our menu that was developed by U.S./European command and look at that and see if there are more appropriate things we need to do. But most importantly, we need to work as a part of an alliance or a coalition of the willing, and not go at this by ourselves, unless we absolutely have to. Because we gain great credibility and we gain strength when we are there with great partners and allies, enforcing these issues. We cannot let it slide, because that's why we are where we are. We, the United States, nor did we, the west, respond appropriately to the invasion of Crimea. The invasion of the Donbass. The shoot down of MH-17. And we expect change? He's going to push until he gets pushed back.
The Cipher Brief: How might Russia then respond?
Breedlove: I think what we know is that Russia is discrediting what we're saying. Crying that they're the aggrieved party, denying that they've done these things. In the information sphere, they attack us every day. They're attacking the credibility of western democracy and attacking our elections, attacking everything there is, to try to tear down western democracy. And militarily, they are ramming boats and shooting, firing weapons at boats and now seizing and holding. That's criminal action on the sea. Economically, that's the only way that we really respond. If we're only going to respond economically, I think we need to get much more targeted. This is a kleptocracy, run by kleptocrats. We need to start putting their money at risk.
Read more from General Breedlove here.
