---

http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=5526


Big Russian flotilla led by Admiral Kuznetsov carrier heads for Syrian port
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

August 21, 2008, 9:17 AM (GMT+02:00)

Russia's Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier heads for Mediterranean
As the West awaits Moscow's threatened reprisal for the treaty installing American missile
interceptors at Redzikowo, on Poland's Baltic coast - signed in Warsaw Wednesday - the Kremlin is
striking back in the Middle East - hence Russian president Dimitry Medvedev's honeyed words of
reassurance to Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert in a call he made to Jerusalem Wednesday, Aug. 20.

DEBKAfile's military sources disclose that a powerful Russian naval contingent, led by the aircraft
carrier Admiral Kuznetsov , left Murmansk on the Barents Sea Aug. 18 to dock at the Syrian
Mediterranean port of Tartus Saturday, Aug. 23. It includes the Russian Navy's biggest missile
cruiser Moskva and at least four nuclear missile submarines.

At the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Syrian president Bashar Assad told reporters Thursday, Aug. 21,
that he is considering a Russian request to deploy missiles in his country in view of
Russian-Western tensions over the Georgian conflict, which he said had polarized East and West anew.

Assad signaled he would also be representing Tehran's interests in his talks with Russian leaders.
Jordan's King Abdullah is on his way to join them later in the day.

Before the Russian flotilla departed Murmansk, Assad is reported by our sources as having given the
nod for Tartus port's conversion into a permanent Middle East base for Russia's nuclear-armed
warships.

Assad's arrival coincided with a visit by a large Syrian military delegation Thursday at the Russian
weapons manufacturing giant, the Kalinin Machines Plant, east of Moscow. DEBKAfile's military
sources report that this plant makes sophisticated anti-air missile systems, including the S-300 and
the BUK M, for which Damascus is bidding.

The Syrian ruler has said he is seeking closer military cooperation with Russia. The deal emerging
from his visit is expected to cover the Russian Navy's use of Tartus in return for a mutual defense
accord providing Syria with a Russian nuclear umbrella and generous terms for his arms purchases.

Aug. 17, DEBKAfile first revealed Russia's planned nuclear military deployments in the Middle East
and Baltic to punish America for its missile deal with Poland and Georgia's attack in South Ossetia.
They would included the installation of Iskandar surface missiles in Syria and Kaliningrad.


Jan Rasmussen

---

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/08/21/europe/EU-NATO-Black-Sea.php
NATO ships enter Black Sea for exercises. August 21, 2008

BRUSSELS, Belgium: NATO warships entered the Black Sea on Thursday for what the alliance said were
long-planned exercises and routine visits to ports in Romania and Bulgaria.

The move is not linked to the tensions over Russia's invasion of Georgia, which lies on the eastern
shore of the Black Sea, about 900 kilometers (550 miles) from the Romanian coast, said officials at
NATO's military command in southern Belgium.

Three warships — from Spain, Germany and Poland — sailed into the Black Sea on Thursday. They are
due to be joined by a U.S. frigate, the USS Taylor, later this week.

They are "conducting a pre-planned routine visit to the Black Sea region to interact and exercise
with our NATO partners Romania and Bulgaria, which is an important feature of our routine planning,"
said Vice-Adm. Pim Bedet, deputy commander at allied maritime headquarters in Northwood, England.

However, the move risks increasing tensions with Russia which has deployed ships from its Black Sea
fleet to the Georgian coast.

The NATO flotilla includes Spain's SPS Adm. Juan de Bourbon, Germany's FGS Luebeck and the Polish
ship ORP General K Pulaski. Romanian and Bulgarian ships will join them for exercises during a
three-week deployment which NATO says has been planned for over a year.



Jan Rasmussen

---

http://civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=19239
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 21 Aug.'08 / 15:43

Two U.S. Navy ships, including a guided missile destroyer USS McFaul, and a U.S. Coast Guard cutter
are getting underway to transport humanitarian assistance supplies to Georgia, U.S. European Command
(EUCOM) said on August 21.
It said USS McFaul (DDG 74) departed from Souda Bay, Crete, on Wednesday and the cutter Dallas (WHEC
716) will depart later this week.

McFaul and Dallas are scheduled to transit into the Black Sea and arrive in Georgia within a week,
according to the U.S. European Command.

The announcement comes after it was reported that Turkey gave its go-ahead to sail through its
straits into the Black Sea.

“The ships will transport thousands of blankets, hygiene items, baby food and infant supplies to
save lives and alleviate human suffering,” U.S. European Command said.

The Associated Press reported quoting unnamed U.S. official in Turkey that USS Mount Whitney would
be among those three vessels expected to arrive in Georgia.

Anatoly Nogovitsin, deputy chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces, said at a news
conference in Moscow on August 21, that the Russia’s Black Sea fleet continued “providing security
regime for maritime in the eastern part of the Black Sea.”

“There is no need to further reinforce it [the fleet],” he added.

Meanwhile, a team of U.S. European Command, led by Army Brig. Gen. John Miller, is already in
Tbilisi “to assess the current humanitarian situation and make recommendations on continued
humanitarian support to senior military leadership.”

“The EUCOM team will conduct a deliberate and focused assessment, encompassing variables such as
transportation, infrastructure, manpower and many other life support considerations,” the U.S.
European Command said.

And on August 21, the head of the U.S. European Command, Gen. John Craddock, who is also NATO's
supreme allied commander for Europe, also arrived in Tbilisi.

Jan Rasmussen