US warship in Black Sea can be monitored ‘through binoculars’ or ‘sight’ of defence systems: President Vladimir Putin!

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the country’s defence systems needed improvement during a meeting with the leadership of the Defence Ministry and Russia’s defence industry enterprises in Sochi on Monday.

“We need to further improve the aerospace defence systems. This is directly related to the development in the leading countries of promising striking means of attack with high speed characteristics,” explained Putin, in a nod to recent developments in the field of hypersonic missile testing.

“This is also required by the general military-political situation, including the growing intensity of NATO aviation flights near Russia, the appearance of Alliance ships with guided missile weapons in the waters of the Baltic and Black Seas. And now, you know, a US ship has entered the Black Sea, we can look at it through binoculars or through the sight of the corresponding defence systems,” added Putin.

US warship USS Porter entered the Black Sea on Saturday as part of a NATO drill, with a further US ship on its way towards the area.

According to Putin, Russia’s fleet modernisation program is “being steadily increased,” with modern weapons exceeding 70 percent of its inventory by 2027.