U.S. Sends Warship to Black Sea, Says Russia Hasn’t Pulled Troops Yet

The United
States and Russia are flexing muscles over Ukraine. The USS Vella
Gulf, a guided missile cruiser, is heading for the Black Sea. At
the same time, there are conflicting reports about whether Russia
has withdrawn any of its 40,000 troops stationed along the
Ukrainian border.

According to Agence France-Press, the warship will
take the place of the USS Taylor, which departed earlier this
month, because “the 1936 Montreux Convention that governs the Black
Sea bars outside countries from keeping warships in the strategic
waters more than 21 days.” Prior to the Taylor, the USS Truxtun
patrolled the sea.

Just as the previous vessels were intended to provide “strategic
reassurance” to the region as Russia invaded and annexed Crimea
from Ukraine, the Vella Gulf is likely intended to send a
warning to Russia not to interfere with Ukraine’s presidential
election, which will take place this Sunday.

Russia announced today that it’s moving troops away from
Ukraine. Reuters
reports:

The Kremlin said on Monday that President Vladimir Putin had
told his defense chief to order troops to pull back from the
frontier with Ukraine, where eastern regions have fallen largely
under the control of pro-Russian rebels.

After spending a day dismantling field camps, packing and
preparing military vehicles, forces in the Rostov, Belgorod and
Bryansk provinces “have begun to move toward train stations and
airfields”, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

It said troops were returning to their permanent bases, but did
not specify how many troops were leaving the border provinces and
made no mention of two other provinces that border eastern
Ukraine.

Yet, this isn’t even the first time this month Russia has made
such a promise. On May 7 President Vladimir Putin made
the curious
claim that he had given the order and troops were already
gone, but that was almost
immediately debunked by satellite images that showed them
still in position. So, the West is skeptical. 

“What we know thus far is that there has been certain troop
movements, but I have received no confirmation, either through
Pentagon sources or NATO sources, that there has been a wholesale
repositioning of those troops off the border,” U.S. Army Secretary
John McHugh
said today.

NATO Secretary General Anders Rasmussen
corroborated, “I wake up every morning hoping to see a real and
meaningful withdrawal of Russian troops, but I have to tell you
that so far we have not seen any visible evidence of a withdrawal
of Russian troops.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine earns creativity points for producing little
chocolates that look like Putin in a
prison uniform.