Politics

17:45, 18.08.2008 | World

The U.S. and Britain have officially pulled out of a Russia-NATO naval exercise in the Sea of Japan slated for August 15-23, a spokesman for the Russian Pacific Fleet said on Friday.

The destroyer, U.S.S. McCampbell (DDG-85), and Royal Navy frigate, HMS Kent were due to have taken part in the FRUKUS exercise off Russia's coast.

"The Pacific Fleet headquarters has received official notification that warships from the United States and Great Britain will not arrive [at the port] in Vladivostok. Therefore these warships will not take part in the exercise," Roman Martov said.

He said that the French frigate, Vendemiaire, and Russia's Marshal Shaposhnikov ASW ship had successfully held bilateral drills in the Sea of Japan as had earlier been agreed.

"However, the FRUKUS exercise will not go ahead," Martov added.

A Pentagon official on Thursday said the United States would stay away from the drill because of the South Ossetia-Georgia conflict.

Washington and London have condemned Russia's response to a Georgian offensive on Tskhinvali the capital of breakaway South Ossetia. Russia sent troops and armored vehicles into the region to expel Georgian troops from South Ossetia following the attack.

Previously called RUKUS, the exercises were launched in 1988 as a vehicle for dialogue between the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The exercise name was changed to FRUKUS in 2003, when France formally joined the group.

FRUKUS-2007 was held in the North Atlantic with the participation of the Admiral Chabanenko, a guided-missile destroyer from Russia's Northern Fleet. The exercises typically involve around 1,000 personnel from the four countries.

-RIA Novosti