By Prensa Latina
Moscow : Chief of the Kremlin Navy Victor Vysotski ratified the decision Monday of extending the periodic presence of Russian naval units in strategic zones of the world’s oceans.
We are not acting in force, but only fulfilling one of the most important tasks for peaceful times: assuring the Russian Navy’s presence in the world oceans, he said, commenting on the recently concluded maneuvers in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.
The admiral told TV First Channel that Naval commands are planning new actions, similar to those recent expeditions.
They will not be as important, regarding media coverage, but will be more significant, with the intention to organize such exercises every six month, he said.
Ships of the North and Black Sea fleets and the Naval Air Force held joint exercises in the Atlantic for the first time in 15 years, observed “pretty seriously” by NATO, according to Vysotski.
Defense Minister Anatoli Serdiukov sent a congratulatory telegram to the sailors, and considered that crossing more than 15,000 nautical miles “is proof of Russia’s definitive return to the world oceans, as one of the main naval powers.”
Referring to the coincidence of the end of the maneuvers with the kidnapping by Somali pirates of a Russian tug sailing from Saint Petersburg to Sajalin, Navy spokesman Igor Digalo said incidents of that kind justify the strategy devised.