Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson told reporters July 26 the U.S. and Russia have reaffirmed a Cold War-era pact to try and deconflict their navies.
The “Incidents at Sea” agreement entails an annual meeting at which unsafe encounters at sea are discussed, along with strategies to deconflict operations. The agreement is meant to avoid “acrobatics” at sea or aggressive maneuvers while in international waters. The U.S. navy has seen a surge in confrontational maneuvers by Russia at sea and in the air since 2014. The U.S. navy no longer has regular contact with the Russian navy since Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea.
Richardson lamented “I wish we could have more of these dialogues with my counterpart.”
The deterioration of U.S.-Russia relations has resulted in several aggressive Russian maneuvers that risk collisions, or even an armed confrontation between the U.S. and Russia. Richardson said the meeting was meant “to communicate that that type of behavior is just not helpful,” and that “It just increases the chance … even a slight miscalculation when you are that close – of developing into a collision.”
In late June, Russian Frigate Yaroslav Mudry repeatedly passed within unsafe distances June 17 of USS Gravely in the Eastern Mediterranean, at one point risking a collision. Russia denied provoking the U.S., alleging the Gravely was the ship at fault. In April, 2016, Russia repeatedly buzzed a U.S. destroyer conducting exercises in the Baltic sea. The Russian maneuvers were meant to simulate a bombing run on the U.S. ships in the event of war. In the wake of the incident U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said “under the rules of engagement that could have been a shoot-down.”
Russian harassment is not limited to the sea, since the imposition of crippling U.S. sanctions Russian spies have been hounding U.S diplomats across Europe. In one incident a Russian spy killed an American diplomat’s dog, in another a spy defecated on a diplomat’s living room carpet.
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