The commander of a U.S. military vessel says it will carry out more exercises with NATO allied ships in the Black Sea.



The "U.S.S. Truxtun" took part in drills with Romanian and Bulgarian ships in the Black Sea last week a few hundreds kilometers from Crimea where Russia has deployed troops after protests toppled Ukraine's pro-Moscow president.



The United States said the exercises were routine and had been planned long before the crisis erupted.



But they coincided with air drills carried out by U.S. and Polish fighter jets in Poland and NATO reconnaissance flights over Eastern Europe.





Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP