Naval exercises are among expected casualties of US-Russia row over Ukraine
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Stars and Stripes
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Published: March 3, 2014
NAPLES, Italy — Joint exercises and military cooperation are among the
expected casualties of a diplomatic fallout between the U.S. and Russia
over recent events in Ukraine, U.S. officials say.
The administration will cancel a “big naval event” as part of planned
political and economic measures against Russia after its incursion into
the Crimea peninsula in southern Ukraine over the weekend, a senior
administration official told reporters in a background briefing on
Sunday.
The event is the biannual Northern Eagle exercise, which involves the
U.S., Norway and Russia, according to a military official acquainted
with the deliberations. A planning conference for the exercise on April
13 is expected to be canceled, the official said.
Officials are also discussing pulling out of the annual FRUKUS naval
exercise between France, Russia, the United Kingdom and U.S. A midterm
planning conference for the exercise is scheduled for April 22-23, the
official said, and could be canceled.
Other military-to-military cooperation between the U.S. and Russia may
also be suspended, the administration official told reporters.
Defense relations between the U.S. and Russia were strained even before
recent events. Russia has repeatedly expressed anger over NATO
partnerships with neighboring countries like Ukraine and Georgia, as
well as the alliance’s development of a missile defense shield. The U.S.
claims the shield is to stop missiles from Iran; Russia insists it is
designed to blunt its own missile defense.
The U.S. and NATO have worked with former Soviet nations on defense
reforms over the past decade, using programs to destroy outdated
equipment, fund professional education for troops, conduct officer
exchanges and provide foreign military sales or financing for modern
equipment.
Partnering opportunities are run through a working group of a bilateral
commission created by the two countries in 2010. Besides high-level
discussions on issues such as missile defense and weapons proliferation,
the working group has sponsored traditional exchange opportunities,
such as a visit last June by Russian engineers to Fort Irwin, Calif., to
understand U.S. training on defeating improvised explosive devices.
The U.S. and Russia also share information on counterterrorism and
counternarcotics. Before last month’s Olympic Games in the Black Sea
resort of Sochi, the U.S. and Russian militaries discussed coordination
on preventing improvised explosive devices.
Russia also provides a key transport route to Afghanistan, known as the
Northern Distribution Network. NATO has used the route extensively both
in bringing supplies to coalition forces in that land-locked nation and
for the withdrawal of equipment heading to Europe as part of the
pullout of international combat forces.
Northern Eagle, held every two years in the Barents and Norwegian seas,
focuses on joint maritime and maneuvers, from anti-piracy operations to
air defense. It was first held in 2004 as a bilateral Russian-U.S.
exercise but was opened to Norway in 2008.
FRUKUS, held last year in France, was created by the four nations in 2003 to improve interoperability.
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