WASHINGTON, March 29 (RIA Novosti) - The ongoing Russian military exercises in the Black Sea cause no concern in the United States as long as they are in line with international agreements, a spokeswoman for the US State Department said on Thursday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly ordered a snap large-scale military exercise at 04:00 on Thursday as concerns persist over armed forces combat readiness. The maneuvers were set to involve up to 7,000 military personnel.
State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland said: “Russia has exercised in the Black Sea before. That is not particularly new. We have under the OSCE a document called the Vienna Document, which is a security transparency document among all of the OSCE countries. So what we look for when we see exercises in the Black Sea, frankly by any state, is that they conform with Vienna Document procedures.”
