KIEV, June 12 – A U.S. warship outfitted with anti-missile technology entered the Black Sea to join naval maneuvers with Ukraine, triggering an angry reaction from Russia, which views the development as a potential threat.

The guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey is an integral part of U.S. plans to create a missile shield in Europe, which Russia opposes.

"We have a number of questions regarding the arrival in the Black Sea of the U.S. Navy cruiser Monterey equipped with the Aegis antimissile system to participate in the Ukrainian-U.S. Sea Breeze 2011 exercises," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"The Russian side has repeatedly stressed that we will not let pass unnoticed the appearance of elements of U.S. strategic infrastructure in the immediate proximity to our borders and will see such steps as a threat to our security," the ministry added.

The Kremlin remains at odds with the United States and NATO over their plans to erect a ballistic missile shield in Europe that Moscow has said could directly undermine Russian strategic forces once it is complete.

Meanwhile, Viktor Nebozhenko, a Ukrainian political analyst, said Ukraine should use the arrival of the USS Monterrey – and Russia’s reaction - as a bargaining tool in talks over natural gas prices.

Ukraine has been unsuccessfully holding talks with Russia for more than 1.5 years – with the latest round of talks conducted a week ago - trying to win lower prices for natural gas.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin recently warned Ukraine that the gas prices will stay the same.

Ukrainian Adm. Viktor Maksymov, commander in chief of Ukrainian naval forces, said: “It is a great pleasure for me to announce the opening of exercise Sea Breeze 2011.” “In response to common threats facing the world today, this exercise will be dedicated to anti-piracy operations.”

The United States plans over the next decade to deploy increasingly sophisticated land- and sea-based missile interceptors around Europe as a stated hedge against a possible Iranian missile attack.

The Monterey is the first deployed component of U.S. President Barack Obama administration's "phased adaptive approach" to European missile defense, which is to be folded into the broader NATO plan to link and augment individual member states' antimissile capabilities.

Moscow acknowledged that the arrival of the U.S. vessel was in accordance with Washington's missile defense program. However, the Foreign Ministry said it did not understand the rationale for the cruiser's close proximity to Russian territory.

"According to an official U.S. version, they (warships) can be deployed to the Black Sea in case of necessity, for example, in case of a flare-up in the region," the ministry said.

"We would like to understand what 'flare-up' the U.S. commanders had in mind when they moved the primary striking unit of NATO's future antimissile system from the Mediterranean to the east?" the statement read.

Co-hosted by the Ukraine and U.S. navies, the exercise will run June 6-18.

Air, land and naval forces from Azerbaijan, Algeria, Belgium, Denmark, Georgia, Germany, Macedonia, Moldova, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States will participate in Sea Breeze, the largest multinational maritime exercise this year in the Black Sea. (tl/ez)