U.S. Navy challenges Russian claims in Sea of Japan

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Europe

The U.S. Navy sent a guided-missile destroyer on a "freedom of navigation" operation in the Sea of Japan on Wednesday, sailing close to Peter the Great Bay, home to Russia's Pacific Fleet.

It was the first time such an exercise, which comes amid heightened U.S.-Russia strains, had been conducted since 1987.

U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesperson U.S. Navy Lt. Rachel McMarr told CNN that the USS McCampbell "sailed in the vicinity of Peter the Great Bay to challenge Russia's excessive maritime claims and uphold the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea enjoyed by the United States and other nations."

The USS McCampbell carried out the exercise under "freedom of navigation" operations outlined in the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which has been ratified by Russia but not the U.S.

Washington does not recognize Moscow's territorial claims beyond 12 miles off the coastline of Peter the Great Bay.

McMarr added that such operations were "not about any one country, nor are they about current events."

"These operations demonstrate the United States will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows. That is true in the Sea of Japan, as in other places around the globe."

The U.S. has also notified Turkey that it plans to send a warship to the Black Sea via the Bosporus Straits, a move officials told CNN was a response to recent Russia-Ukraine tensions.

The 1936 Montreux Convention dictates that governments must to secure permission from Turkey 15 days before passage through the Bosporus Straits.