YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS. The United States is planning to send a warship to the Black Sea to assist Ukraine amid tensions regarding the incident in Kerch Strait, when Russia seized Ukrainian ships that violated its territorial waters and detained sailors.

The US military has requested that the State Department notify Turkey of its possible plans to sail a warship into the Black Sea, CNN reported citing U.S. officials.

The sources told CNN the move is a response to Russia's actions against Ukraine in the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

For its part, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced Wednesday that its troops in eastern Crimea, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014, conducted a military drill with its Pantsir anti-aircraft missile systems.

The US is required to notify Turkey about the passage through the straits under the Montreux Convention, a 1936 treaty that governs the passage of military vessels through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, which connect the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, CNN reported.

Under the rules of the treaty, countries that do not have a coastline on the Black Sea are required to provide Turkey with at least 15 days' notice prior to transiting the straits.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan