A flotilla of eleven ships from the Russian and Chinese navies reportedly on joint exercises near Alaska’s Aleutian Islands were greeted by a patrol of four US Navy destroyers, a joint statement from Alaska’s Senators acknowledged, per USA Today.
“Air and maritime assets under our commands conducted operations to assure the defense of the United States and Canada. The patrol remained in international waters and was not considered a threat,” the US Navy Northern Command told the Wall Street Journal in a statement.
Republicans Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski issued a joint statement acknowledging they had been in contact with Navy officials to ensure Alaskan fishing operations and other commercial sea traffic would not be impeded by the joint Chinese-Russia group. “The incursion by 11 Chinese and Russian warships operating together – off the coast of Alaska – is yet another reminder that we have entered a new era of authoritarian aggression led by the dictators in Beijing and Moscow,” Sullivan said.