US reportedly sending F-16s to Poland, Navy destroyer to Black Sea amid tensionsThe U.S. military is sending a dozen F-16 fighter jets to Poland, Polish media reported, as the U.S. Navy announced it is sending a guided-missile destroyer to the Black Sea as part of a "scheduled" deployment -- amid mounting tensions over Russia's Crimea invasion.
The Navy stressed that the USS Truxtun would be leaving from Greece for "previously planned" exercises with Romanian and Bulgarian Naval forces. But the ship movement comes as the Pentagon overtly boosts its NATO presence in the region, as part of an effort to shore up allies in the face of Russian aggression.
Six F-15s landed in Lithuania, along with two K-135 refueling tankers, as part of that effort on Thursday morning. The F-16s were reportedly being sent as part of an additional wave of assistance.
The USS Truxtun will be detaching from the USS George W. Bush strike group, currently in the Mediterranean. Another ship, the USS Taylor, had previously been in the Black Sea but ran aground and is currently undergoing repairs in Turkey.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration was moving ahead Thursday with additional sanctions and visa restrictions on Russians in response to the country's incursion in Ukraine.
At a hearing on Capitol Hill, a top State Department official also blasted Russia's version of events, which it used to justify its use of the military -- just hours after the department issued a blistering fact sheet on the topic.
"There are no confirmed reports of threats to ethnic Russians," Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Eric Rubin testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Rubin continued, "No confirmed reports of a massive movement of ethnic Russian refugees, no threat to Russian naval bases. The interim Ukrainian government is a body that represents the will of the Ukrainian people. It is not an extremist cabal. Russia's assertions are nothing more than veneer used to justify its military action."
The State Department fact sheet, called "President Putin's Fiction: 10 False Claims About Ukraine," aimed to counter what the State Department calls Russia's false narrative to justify its illegal actions in Ukraine. The State Department wrote: "The world has not seen such startling Russian fiction since Dostoyevsky wrote, 'The formula 'two times two equals five' is not without its attractions.'"
Meanwhile, the latest actions by Crimea itself are also on tenuous footing. Crimea's parliament has asked to join Russia, which citizens could formalize with a vote in a March 16 referendum. But there are no legal grounds for this move, according to Ukraine's interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
Although several House Foreign Affairs Committee members gave strong statements about punishing Russia for its transgressions, Treasury official Daleep Singh noted the limits to the effectiveness of sanctions. Singh did point out that Europe's reliance on Russian energy is a two-way street: Europe depends on Russia for energy, but Russia depends on Europe for revenue from that energy.
Rubin also spoke about the recently announced visa restrictions.
"Pursuant to the president's guidance, the State Department is putting in place visa restrictions on a number of officials and individuals, reflecting a policy decision to deny visas to those responsible for or complicit in threatening the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," he said.
Other options are on the table.
Florida Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen brought up the Magnitsky Act. She suggested new names be added to the list to "name and shame" the Russians known to have committed human rights violations. To this, Rubin indicated that the State Department is indeed actively considering adding new names.
The Magnitsky Act, officially the Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012, is a bipartisan bill passed in late 2012 intended to punish Russian officials linked to the death of Sergei Magnitsky. It would block their entrance to the United States and use of their banking system. Worldwide, the act has been hailed as groundbreaking for human rights.
Putin said at the time the act was "unfriendly" and threatened bilateral relations. Russia responded to the Magnitsky Act by barring Americans from adopting Russian children.
