27 August 2008, 12:50
Russian Black See Fleet ships enter Abkhazian territorial waters
Today, two Russian fighting boats "Ivanovets" and "Molniya" have moored in the seaport of Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia.
Vice Admiral Sergey Menyaylo, Commander of the Novorossisk Marine Base, told journalists that a group of fighting ships had entered the territorial waters of Abkhazia with the aim to keep peace and stability.
"As of today, we monitor the territorial waters of Abkhazia and the adjacent marine environment. We ensure safety and navigation control, not admitting transportation of weapons and military machines and keeping peace; in particular, we fulfil the humanitarian mission," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent quotes Vice Admiral as saying.
He refused to disclose the exact number of the ships now in the territorial waters of Abkhazia, but has noted that there are landing ships and rocket cruisers, including the "Moskva" one among them.
Saying about possible increase of the fleet of warships, the Commander has noted that "it'll all depends on stability."
In parallel, the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation has started its mission of tracing the escalation of the NATO's Naval Force grouping in the Black Sea, as Anatoly Nogovitsyn said in the briefing, which was broadcast by the "Vesti" TV Channel.
The Reuters remarks that yesterday Sergey Lavrov, head of Russia's MFA, said that delivery of humanitarian aid to Georgia by US military ships did not make the situation more stable.
"This situation causes a number of questions, since usually military ships are not engaged in delivery of humanitarian aid. The diplomacy of warships or humanitarian warships doesn't make the situation more stable," he said.
