U.S. military ships in Black Sea 'not anything new' -Pentagon

The Pentagon on Monday declined to discuss Turkey's comments that the United States would send two warships to the Black Sea next week, but said the military routinely sends ships to the region.

"That's not anything new," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said, referring to U.S. military ships in the Black Sea.

Kirby also declined to offer any specifics on U.S. estimates on Russian troop levels near Ukraine's borders, a day after the White House said they were the biggest since 2014. Kirby referred reporters to Moscow for specifics.