Russian President Vladimir Poutine described Monday, November 15 as "
provocation
" of the military exercises carried out by Washington and NATO in the Black Sea, during a telephone interview with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, according to the Kremlin.
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In his conversation with Emmanuel Macron, Vladimir Putin "
drew attention to the provocative nature of the large-scale exercises carried out by the United States and some of its allies in the Black Sea, which heighten tensions between Russia and the United States. NATO,
”the Kremlin said in a statement.
The Russian president seemed to be referring to the participation of several American military ships in exercises in the Black Sea that Moscow had said last week to "
monitor
" and that Vladimir Putin had described as "
serious challenge
".
Growing tensions around Ukraine
His latest charge comes against a backdrop of growing tensions around the conflict in Ukraine, a country bordering the Black Sea.
The situation in this region has been very tense since the annexation in 2014 by Russia of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.
For more than seven years, Ukraine has been in conflict with pro-Russian separatists in the eastern part of its territory.
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Tensions have escalated in recent days, with the United States and the European Union expressing concern over a recent deployment of Russian troops on the border of this Black Sea country. During the telephone interview with Vladimir Poutine on Monday, Emmanuel Macron said his "
strong concern
" and his "
desire to defend the whole of Ukraine
", according to the French presidency.
Vladimir Putin accused Kiev of pursuing a "
destructive policy
", citing "the
recent use by Ukraine of drones in the conflict zone
," the Kremlin said.
Ukraine's use of a Turkish combat drone against pro-Russian separatists last month has indeed aroused Moscow's ire.
Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the conflict in Ukraine has claimed more than 13,000 lives.
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For its part, the United States condemned on Monday the firing of an anti-satellite missile by Russia, at the origin of thousands of debris that threatened the astronauts present in the International Space Station.
"
Earlier today, Russia irresponsibly conducted a destructive direct-ascension anti-satellite missile test against one of its own satellites,
" State Department spokesman Ned Price said. American, calling Moscow's behavior “
dangerous and irresponsible
”.