marine
Despite tensions, NATO holds military exercises in the Mediterranean
The flight deck of the USS Harry Truman
© Commons
As of Monday, exercise Neptune Strike 22 will take place in the Mediterranean Sea as planned. According to the Pentagon, it has nothing to do with the current tensions and has been planned for a long time. However, it does not appear on the NATO list of military exercises planned for 2022.
Amid tensions with Russia over the Ukraine crisis, NATO is holding a major military exercise in the Mediterranean. The US aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman, among others, will take part in the naval maneuvers starting next Monday, as the spokesman for the US Department of Defense, John Kirby, said. The exercise, called Neptune Strike 22, is scheduled to last until February 4th.
Kirby stressed that the maneuvers had nothing to do with current fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. “The exercise is not designed for the kind of scenarios that could play out over Ukraine,” the Pentagon spokesman said. The maneuver had also been planned for a long time. However, Neptune Strike 22 was not on a list of military exercises planned for 2022 published by NATO in December.
parallel exercises
Kirby said the maneuver had been put to the test given the current tensions with Russia. Ultimately, however, the NATO partners decided to stick to the maneuver. Russia announced large-scale naval maneuvers in the Atlantic, Arctic, Pacific and Mediterranean on Thursday. A total of more than 140 ships and 10,000 soldiers are expected to take part in the exercises planned for January and February.
The aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman and its escort ships have been in the Mediterranean since mid-December. The warship was supposed to be relocated, but Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin decided to leave it in the Mediterranean to “reassure” Europeans about the conflict with Russia.