A Russian spy ship was spotted Tuesday sailing just off the U.S. east coast. Also on Tuesday, the administration confirmed that Russia had deployed ground-based cruise missiles in violation of a 1987 treaty. Last Friday, four Russian jets buzzed an American ship in the Black Sea.
Such provocations sound like Vladimir Putin is testing our new president, who created the impression when Iran was doing this sort of thing that he would not tolerate it. Putin tested Obama like this all the time, drawing conclusions about his weakness.
It will be interesting to see what President Trump does.
It has been alleged that the Russians helped Trump get elected. Trump has floated the idea of eliminating the sanctions against Russia for invading the Ukraine and annexing the Crimea. But Trump’s new secretary of state and secretary of defense have talked tough about keeping the sanctions. And being overly cozy with the Russian ambassador is what got national security advisor Michael Flynn fired.
Why do you think Putin would throw his weight around like this?
If Trump ignores these incidents, he might look weak, or even in thrall to Putin. If Trump reacts, he needs to be measured and must not over-react, qualities that have not been his strong suit.
At any rate, this may be President Trump’s first foreign relations test.
From Russia sends spy ship near US coast, deploys banned missiles at home, officials say | Fox News:
A Russian spy ship was spotted patrolling off the East Coast of the United States on Tuesday morning, the first such instance during the Trump administration — and the same day it was learned the Kremlin had secretly deployed controversial cruise missiles inside Russia and buzzed a U.S. Navy destroyer, U.S. officials told Fox News.
The Russian ship was in international waters, 70 miles off the coast of Delaware and heading north at 10 knots, according to one official. The U.S. territory line is 12 nautical miles.
It was not immediately clear where the ship is headed.
Later Tuesday, a U.S. official confirmed to Fox News that Russia had deployed ground-launched cruise missiles to two locations inside the country in December. The New York Times first reported that the Obama administration had previously seen the missiles — then in a testing phase — as a violation of a 1987 treaty between the U.S. and Russia that banned ground-launched intermediate-range missiles.
But Russia has pressed ahead with its program, apparently testing a Trump administration which has sought better ties with Moscow — but is also fresh off the loss of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who resigned Monday night in the wake of a scandal surrounding his communications with Russia.
Adding to the aggressive actions, Fox News confirmed a report from The Washington Free Beacon that four Russian jets buzzed the USS Porter in the Black Sea on Friday.
Keep reading. . .]
A Russian spy ship was spotted Tuesday sailing just off the U.S. east coast. Also on Tuesday, the administration confirmed that Russia had deployed ground-based cruise missiles in violation of a 1987 treaty. Last Friday, four Russian jets buzzed an American ship in the Black Sea.
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