NATO naval drills begin as U.S.-Armenia exercise irks Moscow
The German-led Northern Coasts 23 exercise takes place in the Baltic Sea and on the territories of Latvia and Estonia.
The German-led Northern Coasts 23 exercise takes place in the Baltic Sea and on the territories of Latvia and Estonia.
Thirteen members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Sweden kicked off a naval exercise in the Baltic Sea on Saturday amid rising tensions with Russia as Moscow summoned Armenia's ambassador over Yerevan's planned war games with the United States military.
About 3,200 soldiers from Italy, France, Finland, Estonia, Denmark, Canada, Belgium, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, the US and non-NATO member Sweden are taking part in the German-led Northern Coasts 23 exercise, Germany's navy said in a statement.
Thirty ships, submarines, up to 19 aircraft and various landing units are involved in the war games, it added.
The exercise will take place off the coasts and on the territory of Latvia and Estonia.
Russia regularly holds naval drills in the Baltic Sea, often in response to NATO exercises in the area.
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It last held drills in the area in early August.
Meanwhile, Moscow's foreign ministry said Friday the Armenian ambassador was given a "tough presentation" of Yerevan's "series of unfriendly steps." Armenia announced drills with the US military after its increasing criticism of Moscow's role in the Nagorno-Karabakh standoff.
Yerevan, a traditional Russian ally, has increasingly criticized Moscow's peacekeeping mission in the Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan.
Russia deployed peacekeepers to Karabakh as part of a Moscow-brokered deal to end a 2020 war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The Russian ministry also said that the Armenian prime minister's wife traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine, which is at war with Russia, and Yerevan intended to join the International Criminal Court, which issued a warrant of arrest against Russian President Vladimir Putin for allegedly deporting Ukrainian children to his country.
Despite the summoning, the foreign ministry stressed that Russia and Armenia "remain allies and all agreements on developing the strengthening of the partnership will be fulfilled."
WITH AFP
