DANIEL MEERS AND IAN MCPHEDRAN NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA NETWORK
NOVEMBER 12, 2014
A CONVOY of heavily armed Russian war ships, including at least one high powered missile cruiser, are cruising international waters to Australia’s north, Defence has confirmed.
Defence is monitoring the fleet of four ships, which include a cruiser, a destroyer a tug boat and a refueller, which were believed to in the Coral Sea, south of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea on Wednesday evening.
Australian ships HMAS Parramatta and HMAS Stuart were ordered to “crash sail” to the Coral Sea earlier this week in a bid to “greet” the Russian fleet. It is believed HMAS Parramatta arrived last night and HMAS Stuart was a day a way.
RELATED: ABBOTT CONFRONTS PUTIN ON MH17
RELATED: WHAT ABBOTT AND PUTIN TALKED ABOUT
Russia’s flagship vessel, The Varyag, is leading the four-strong “show of strength” bound for the Queensland coast.
Channel 7 news reported that Russian warships are “steaming toward Australia” in a “show of strength”. It reported that it is a “defiant show of force from the super power, ahead of this weekend’s G20 meeting of world leaders” in Brisbane.
President Vladimir Putin ordered the fleet which is headed by Russia’s flagship vessel, The Varyag, to “show the flag” off the Queensland coast by Saturday morning.
Australian Defence chiefs have been monitoring the movements of the Russian convoy for a week after they were spotted north of Papua New Guinea.
When the fleet turned south between Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands an Australian P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft was sent to shadow the war ships.
It is understood Mr Putin has ordered the fleet to show-off the might of the Russian navy in the wake of Australia’s international condemnation of Mr Putin after MH17 was shot down by Russian backed rebels.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott had vowed to “shirt-front” Mr Putin at the G20 summit in Brisbane.
The Russian fleet left Vladivostok on October 23.
Pacific Fleet spokesman Captain First Rank Roman Martov was quoted by Russian media as saying: “The objectives of this campaign is to ensure naval presence and show the flag in the region.”
Russia has made no request for a Port Visit in Australia and would be required to give 48 hours notice.
SCROLL DOWN FOR MORE
A senior government source last night said there was no doubt about Russia’s intentions.
“There is no doubt this is posturing, to show the power of the Russian fleet,” the source said.
The Australian Defence Force last night confirmed they were monitoring the movements of the ships.
“Defence is monitoring Russian naval vessels that are currently transiting through international waters to the north of Australia,’’ the Defence Force said in a statement.
“Defence regularly undertakes maritime surveillance patrols in the approaches to Australia.”
There was no suggestion Russia had breached any laws.
“The movement of these vessels is entirely consistent with provisions under international law for military vessels to exercise freedom of navigation in international waters.”
HMAS Parramatta had been patrolling the area for the G20 while HMAS Stuart, which was returning to Sydney after World War 1 commemorations in Albany, was later redirected to the region and the crew had their leave cancelled.
Vladimir Putin meets with students of a naval boarding school while attending the unveiling of a monument to late Anatoly Sobchak, St. Petersburg's liberal Mayor, in St. Petersburg, Russia, 2006.
Putin looks out of a nuclear submarine Karelia, in the Barents Sea, in Severomorsk, in 2000.
Meanwhile, a report by the Lowy Institute Military Fellow James Brown said the flagship of the Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet, the guided missile cruiser Moskva, has been conducting unilateral live-fire drills in the South China Sea.
The ship’s appearance in Southeast Asia was described by the US Naval Institute as “a rare show of surface presence in the region’’.
Reports also suggest the Russian Navy frigate Yaruslov Mudry and a replenishment ship are in the area, which were until Monday berthed in Jakarta.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott was on Wednesday in Myanmar for the East Asian Summit. His office declined to comment.
Mr Abbott met with Mr Putin at the APEC summit in China on Tuesday. It was the first time the pair had come face to face since MH17.
Mr Abbott told Mr Putin to apologise for Russian’s invovlemnt in the MH17 atrocity during a 15-minute meeting.
Mr Putin refused to guarantee any requests Mr Abbott asked for.
While the show of strength is daunting, it is not the first time Russians have showed military force at a major international event.
In 2010 then President Dmitry Medvedev was accompanied to a visit in San Francisco by Russia’s Pacific Fleet.
Russian war ships were spotted sitting off Singapore in 2009 ahead of the APEC meeting. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will attend the G20 summit. He said he did not want to talk to Mr Putin.
“I don’t think, frankly he cares about what Australia thinks,’’ he said.
“What I do know is that we need to be speaking to the rest of the world to put pressure on, to make sure that we get the information we want.
”Surely there’s information that the Russian military have, that people close to the separatists have, which can tell us what happened, why it happened, and what’s going to be done who’s responsible.”
Mr Putin speaks with PM Abbott. Picture: Alexey Druzhinin
The leaders reportedly did not chat during APEC’s “family photo”. Picture: Andrew Meares
The awkward exchange between Abbott and Putin. Picture: Andrew Meares
While the show of strength is daunting, it is not the first time Russians have showed military force at a major international event.
In 2010 then President Dmitry Medvedev was accompanied to a visit in San Francisco by Russia’s Pacific Fleet.
Russian war ships were spotted sitting off Singapore in 2009 ahead of the APEC meeting. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will attend the G20 summit. He said he did not want to talk to Mr Putin.
“I don’t think, frankly he cares about what Australia thinks,’’ he said.
“What I do know is that we need to be speaking to the rest of the world to put pressure on, to make sure that we get the information we want.
”Surely there’s information that the Russian military have, that people close to the separatists have, which can tell us what happened, why it happened, and what’s going to be done who’s responsible.”
Originally published as Russian warships ‘heading to Australia’
bagus ada baik jugak sesekali tunjuk gah bagi musuh tak rasa juah sangat ada kecut sikit.
ReplyDelete5 kuasa yang ditakuti oleh amerika ialah rusia china korea utara indonesia n monggolia