USS Carney returns to Odesa before top NATO–Russia meeting

The guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) arrived
in Odesa on Jan. 8 for a scheduled port call. The destroyer had last visited
Odesa during the Sea Breeze 2017 exercises. The USS Carney’s arrival was noted
by Russian Federation Council MP Frants Klintsevich, the first deputy chairman
of the upper chamber’s defense and security committee, who claimed that it did
not pose a risk for Russia, but that, as reported by Tass, it was “an
irritating factor”.

The visit comes before a set of NATO and U.S. meetings
with Russian counterparts later this month, including one between General
Curtis Scaparrotti, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, with Russian General
Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff. This will be the first meeting of
the NATO and Russian commanders since communications at this level were cut
following the Russian invasion of Crimea. Kurt Volker, the U.S. Special
Representative for Ukraine, is also to meet with Vladislav Surkov, President
Putin’s senior aide.

James Hydzik: The signals sent by the return of the USS Carney indicate that despite
the turmoil within Washington, second-tier issues such as Ukraine (in
comparison to North Korea, for example) have not been forgotten by the
government as an institution. Given the meetings scheduled, this was a point
that needed to be made.