US Navy and Russian Federation renewed contact
Delegations of the Russian Navy and the US Navy on Wednesday held consultations on the prevention of incidents at sea. The organizers were the American Navy in Europe.
"These important annual reviews represent a professional discussion on existing agreements that are designed to prevent incidents or collisions at sea between US and Russian ships and aircraft," the US 6th Fleet explained.
An agreement on the prevention of incidents was signed by the countries back in 1972. “According to the document, the warships of the two states must in all cases be at a sufficient distance from each other to avoid the risk of collisions. Ships and aircraft must not simulate attack or simulate use. weapons, - the newspaper explains. “It is forbidden to carry out maneuvers in areas of heavy traffic and some other actions that may lead to incidents at sea and in the airspace above it.”
“It was a good agreement. And the new consultations can only be assessed positively, despite the current international situation, "said Captain First Rank Igor Kurdin, head of the St. Petersburg Club of Submariners.
“By 1972, so many incidents had accumulated! - he recalls. “This is the overflights of our ships by American aircraft at extremely low altitudes, and the approach of the ships at too short a distance, which led not to collisions, but to bulk.”
“We, as commanders, were then given all collections of signals that we should, should not. But this agreement concerned only surface ships. An attempt to discuss issues regarding submarines has come to nothing. After all, the main task of submarines is stealth. Were discussed ideas to establish horizons, as for airplanes - for example, they float at depths up to 100 meters, and we - below 100 meters. But in the end they came to the conclusion that this problem has no solution at the moment, ”he added.
“The consultations discuss dangerous incidents during the year, whether there were dangerous rapprochements, maneuvering in the air and at sea,” said Captain First Rank Mikhail Nenashev, chairman of the All-Russian Fleet Support Movement, to the newspaper Vzglyad. - A review has been conducted over the past time, and certain concerns are being expressed. On our part, I think that concern should have been voiced that the unacceptably aggressive activity of the Americans and their allies in the Black Sea. The Americans in response could indicate their negativity in connection with the flights of our aviation along, in their opinion, territorial waters. ”
“At the same time, this is a difficult topic: when our ships conduct exercises, the Americans and their allies, for example, the Norwegians, almost crawl under a missile attack. Their aircraft almost under our planes, taking off from an aircraft-carrying cruiser, climb. All this is presented to the Americans. By the way, we have signed such agreements not only with the Americans, but also with a number of other countries, ”said the expert.
“These meetings are traditional, they were held even at the height of the Cold War. Today, given the new round of contradictions that has emerged in all geopolitical areas, even such contacts are certain symbols, ”he continued.
“For Americans, for some time they did not communicate with them on this topic - this is a definite signal to start taking our interests into account in the new conditions,” Nenashev added. - The activity of our fleet and aircraft has increased, dozens of our ships are located in the coastal and distant oceanic zones. All this has led the Americans to the idea that it is necessary to conduct continuous dialogue with the Russians, given that we will only increase our presence in the seas and oceans in the next decade, and over the whole century our activity will only increase. Maybe they were not even going to meet, but they took into account our joint naval exercises with China, with India, with Egypt. They keep track of all this and understand that we are faced with the issues of expanding the geography of marine and oceanic exercises, closer to the shores of America. Therefore, on the one hand, these are traditional meetings, but on the other hand they serve as the consent of the United States to a more substantive conversation, even in such a sensitive area, which includes the seas and oceans. ”
- www.vz.ru
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