{"id":1232886,"date":"2022-01-23T10:25:21","date_gmt":"2022-01-23T15:25:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1232886"},"modified":"2022-01-23T10:25:26","modified_gmt":"2022-01-23T15:25:26","slug":"u-s-aircraft-carrier-strike-group-heads-for-mediterranean-amid-russia-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/u-s-aircraft-carrier-strike-group-heads-for-mediterranean-amid-russia-threats\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S Aircraft Carrier Strike Group Heads for Mediterranean amid Russia Threats"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fu-s-aircraft-carrier-strike-group-heads-for-mediterranean-amid-russia-threats%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1232886&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">The USS <em>Harry S. Truman<\/em> aircraft carrier strike group was heading for the Mediterranean on Sunday amid rising tensions between the West and Russia.<\/p>\n<p>The nuclear-powered Nimitz class warship and her 5,000-strong crew will take part in NATO exercises called Neptune Strike 22, AP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/news\/us-announce-naval-exercises-in-mediterranean\/\">reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, led by 6th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Gene Black, is overseeing the joint international deployment.<\/p>\n<p>The exercises are set to begin Monday and run through Feb. 4, and will \u201cdemonstrate NATO\u2019s ability to integrate the high-end maritime strike capabilities of an aircraft carrier strike group to support the deterrence and defense of the alliance,\u201d Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters.<\/p>\n<p>He added the strike group, along with several other NATO allies he did not name, \u201cwill participate in coordinated maritime manoeuvers, anti-submarine warfare training, and long-range strike training.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<div id=\"attachment_19593690\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1051978406.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-19593690 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1051978406-1024x682-1.jpg\" alt=\"NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg (C), looks at a F-18 Super Hornet landing on of the U.S. Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the North Sea on October 12, 2018. (JOHAN FALNES\/AFP via Getty Images)\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg (C), looks at a F-18 Super Hornet landing on of the U.S. Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the North Sea on October 12, 2018. (JOHAN FALNES\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>Kirby insisted the war games had been \u201clong-planned,\u201d since 2020, and were not in response to the recent Russian military aggression near the Ukrainian border, though the drills are not listed on NATO\u2019s website among exercises slated for this year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The announcement came a day after Russia announced its own all-out naval exercises, with more than 140 warships and about 10,000 soldiers taking part in January and February in maneuvers that will take place in the Atlantic, the Arctic, the Pacific and the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. and Western allies have watched as the steady rise of Russian troop numbers near the border grew to a peak of an estimated 100,000, driving fears that Moscow was preparing to invade Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Russia annexed Ukraine\u2019s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and shortly after threw its support behind a separatist rebellion in the country\u2019s east. Over more than seven years, the fighting has killed over 14,000 people and devastated Ukraine\u2019s industrial heartland, known as the Donbas.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>Kirby acknowledged tensions with Russia had sparked discussions among the allies on the holding of exercises, although Russian naval capabilities are still a largely unknown quantity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was due consideration about \u2014 given tensions right now \u2014 about our exercise posture. And after all that consideration and discussion with our NATO allies, the decision was made to move ahead,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Russia\u2019s Sole Aircraft Carrier Damaged as Floating Dock Sinks, Brings Crane Crashing Down<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/P8UdjWTmZv\">https:\/\/t.co\/P8UdjWTmZv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartLondon\/status\/1057245482869649409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 30, 2018<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The strike group includes five U.S. ships \u2014- the cruiser USS <em>San Jacinto<\/em> and the guided missile destroyers USS&nbsp;<em>Cole<\/em>, USS&nbsp;<em>Bainbridge<\/em>, USS&nbsp;<em>Gravely<\/em>&nbsp;and USS J<em>ason Dunham<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The carrier was to join the area of operations of the central command (Centcom) but U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin decided at the end of December to keep near the Mediterranean to \u201creassure\u201d Europeans amid tensions with Russia.<\/p>\n<p>Any further engagement beyond regional exercises is subject to debate.<\/p>\n<p>As Breitbart News <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/01\/21\/poll-little-support-for-military-involvement-with-russia-and-ukraine\/\">reported<\/a>,&nbsp;Americans largely do not support intervening militarily in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine and prefer diplomatic pressure or weapons support.<\/p>\n<p><em>AP contributed to this story<\/em><\/p>\n<h5><em><span>Follow Simon Kent on Twitter:<\/span> <a class=\"twitter-follow-button\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SunSimonKent\" data-show-count=\"false\">Follow @SunSimonKent<\/a> <span>or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com<\/span><br \/><\/em><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier strike group was heading for the Mediterranean on Sunday amid rising tensions between the West and Russia. The nuclear-powered Nimitz class warship and &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1232886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1232886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1232886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1232886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1232886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1232886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1232886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}