NATO drills in Black Sea linked to US' desire to contain Moscow, claims Russian FM Lavrov

The maritime drills conducted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) forces in the Black Sea are linked to Washington's aim to contain Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov asserted on Monday during a weekly press briefing, Sputnik reported. In a major violation of the Russia-NATO Founding Act, the United States and allies "desire" to follow the "policy of containment" of Russia, the FM asserted. He further stated that Russia is "prepared" for any "provocation" in relations that may arise from NATO's actions along the region.

Lavrov's assertions come days after the US Sixth Fleet announced a flagship maritime exercise in the Black Sea region. The drill will include naval vessel Mount Whitney heading to the Black Sea in November to conduct operations with NATO allies and partners. Earlier in the day, the naval vessel entered the Georgian Port of Batumi along with the US destroyer Porter.

Putin aims to strengthen Russian air defences to counter NATO

Relations between NATO and Russia have witnessed further lows since Moscow suspended operations with the intergovernmental military alliance from November 1 in a retaliatory move to counter the expulsion of 8 allies of the Russian Military. On November 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted that the need to strengthen the air defence of the country is of vital importance to counter spike in military activities near its border. Putin said the aforementioned statement while addressing military officials and armament manufacturers in Sochi. It is worth the mention that, Putin called for robust measures to counter threats from NATO in the Black Sea region, which waters the Kremlin uses to prevent Ukraine and Georgia from joining the military alliance.

Meanwhile, following the diplomatic rift with NATO, Moscow has also sought to beef up military ties with Belarus. Around mid-October, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu met his Belarusian counterpart and top brass military personnel to discuss the modernisation of shared army infrastructure. Both the countries extended agreements on two Russian Facilities in Belarus and a naval communication centre as of now, Shoigu said in a statement.

Image: AP