A day after news broke that a Russian fighter jet repeatedly buzzed the USS Donald Cook in the Black Sea on April 12, the Pentagon called the move was "provocative" and said they didn't believe the Russian pilot decided to make close-range passes at a U.S. Navy ship without the backing of his government, as U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren explained to reporters:
"I would have difficulty believing that two Russian pilots, on their own, would chose to take such an action.
"We've seen the Russians conduct themselves unprofessionally and in violation of international norms in Ukraine for several months, and these continued acts of provocation and unprofessionalism do nothing to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine, which we called on the Russians to do."
"[The Cook] did not go to battle stations."
The jet kerfuffle isn't the only difficulty the Donald Cook is dealing with in the Black Sea. An unnamed military official told The Associated Press that a Russian Navy ship has been shadowing the Cook...
...remaining within visual distance but not close enough to be unsafe.
The Naval Station Rota-based USS Donald Cook is currently making a port call in Constanta, Romania.
