US navy confirms missile destroyer USS Truxtun approaching the Black Sea
The US Navy has confirmed that a guided missile destroyer, the USS Truxtun, is heading to the Black Sea, for what the US military said is a “routine” deployment, decided long before the crisis in Ukraine, which has divided world powers. ● The US Navy said in a statement that the USS Truxtun left Greece on Thursday on the way to the Black Sea and was going to conduct training with the Romanian and Bulgarian navy. “While in the Black Sea, the ship will conduct a port visit and routine, previously planned exercises with allies and partners in the region,” The US Navy said in statement. “Truxtun’s operations in the Black Sea were scheduled well in advance of her departure from the United States,” the statement added. The ship has a crew of about 300 and is part of an aircraft carrier strike group that left the US in mid-February. The announcement comes after Turkish authorities confirmed on Wednesday they had given permission to a US navy warship to pass through the Bosphorus Straights, which is the only entrance to the Black Sea, it was reported in the Hürriyet Daily News.
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