US warship Donald Cook leaves Black Sea

MOSCOW, April 25 (Itar-Tass) - The U.S. destroyer Donald Cook with the Aegis missile defence system had left the Black Sea, a Russian Defence Ministry source told Itar-Tass on Friday. The Donald Cook left the Black Sea on Thursday, passed through the strait zone and was in the Aegean Sea, the source said. Thus, two NATO warships remain in the Black Sea -- the U.S. frigate Taylor and the French ship Dupuy de Lome, which entered the sea on April 22 and 10, respectively. The U.S. frigate is in the western part of the sea near the Romanian port of Constanta, and the French ship is in the Georgian port of Batumi. The French destroyer Dupleix, earlier planned to enter the Black Sea on April 26-27, was not expected to arrive there at the time, the official said. The Taylor previously remained in the sea from February 5 to March 9, eleven days longer than the maximum period of 21 days set by the Montreux convention for presence of warships from other regions in the Black Sea. The overstay was officially explained by propeller repair. Learn more on itar-tass.com