The USS Truman carrier strike group has been deployed to the Mediterranean, with Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro saying its mission includes “deterring” Russia and implementing a potential no-fly zone over Ukraine, should President Biden give the order to establish one.
“There are numerous Russian ships and subs in the Mediterranean today and that’s why it’s important for NATO to have an equal presence, to deter them. The only thing that Putin understands is strength”, Del Toro said, speaking to Politico.
“The role of Truman, with other allies, is to deter Russians from further aggression and to be on constant standby for orders that might be given from our president or from other leaders around the world for the protection of Ukraine and the people of Ukraine”, the commander added.
The Nimitz-class carrier and its escorts are currently stationed in the Ionian Sea, the body of water directly southeast of the Italian “boot” and the western coast of Greece. Its aircraft are said to have carried out over 75 patrol missions along NATO’s eastern flank, including near the Ukrainian border, over the past month. The Truman has been used repeatedly in US wars of aggression, with its aircraft flying over 1,200 combat sorties during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and assisting coalition forces during fighting against the Taliban* insurgency in Afghanistan in the 2010s.
The current tensions between Russia and NATO over Ukraine aren’t the first time the US has deployed a carrier strike group in the Med as a show of force against Moscow. In the spring of 2014, in the wake of the victory of the US and EU-backed Maidan coup in Kiev and tensions between Russia and NATO over the fate of Crimea, Washington deployed another Nimitz-class carrier, the George H.W. Bush, near the peninsula off southern Turkey.
A growing number of US lawmakers has called for the introduction of a no-fly zone over Ukraine, notwithstanding the danger of provoking a direct military confrontation with Russia.
Read the full story on Sputnik News
