The US military was highly activity in pursuing Russian warships and submarines to the east of Crete on Tuesday.
ItaMilRadar, established in 2016 to track military flights over Italy and he Mediterranean Sea, wrote: "interesting US Navy activity over the eastern Mediterranean east of Crete."
They also listed USNavy Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk (reg. 166589), which departed from a USNavy unit in the area (not trackable), and USNavy Boeing P-8A, departed from Sigonella, as being active to the east of Crete.
"The two assets are controlling the south-eastern entrance to the Aegean Sea in an area where Russian naval surface and underwater units are active," the platform wrote.
Meanwhile, Greece’s strategic value for the United States, which has been confirmed during the war in Ukraine, was noted by former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, who emphasised the critical role of the US Naval Base at Souda Bay, Crete.
Pompeo, who is among the most likely Republican candidates in the 2024 presidential election, if former president Donald Trump does not run, spoke about the importance of the US-Greece Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement (MDCA).
He noted that it was implemented over three American and two Greek administrations, which shows it is built on a solid and long-term basis.
Pompeo also noted the key role that Greece plays as a gateway to Europe for the transport of natural gas from the East Mediterranean.
The former US official said that the use or threat of use of force by Turkey against Greece is unacceptable, while he maintains that when it comes to the war in Ukraine there is no room for a “middle ground” and calls on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to take a clear position.
He also blamed US President Joe Biden for making the climate crisis a priority for America’s national security policy at a time when he believes there should have been a strong emphasis on “hard power.”
The former secretary of state, congressman for six years, and former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, also talked about the significant influence of Orthodoxy and expressed his full support for the Ecumenical Patriarchate, highlighting the positive role played by Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos (Bartholomew), in contrast to that of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.
When speaking about Souda Bay, the former US official said: "In some ways, it was prescient to go visit there, given what’s unfolded in the months after that visit."
"If you just put it on the map and then step back and draw circles, aircraft range circles, long-range, all kinds, you can clearly length the travel for commercial air travel and for goods and products, you can see this is an important geographic spot on the global map.
"And it’s an absolute imperative that we get the security relationships right, so that we can get the economic piece of this in the right spot as well. And Souda Bay has played a long, historical role in that and needs to continue as well.
"I wanted to go see it for myself. I read about it. I’ve been briefed on it, but I wanted to go stay on the ground and talk to some of the folks who are actually executing it there as well.
"There are things about maps that are unchangeable. Sea lanes, pipeline routes, actual locations of the natural resource – in this case, natural gas. Those things are physical and one needs to acknowledge them and then work through them to deliver good outcomes."
When asked about the midterm elections, he said: "I got out of the prediction business a long time ago."
"The American economy is struggling. Employers are struggling to find work force. Inflation. That last number, the producer price number from today was 10 percent, an all-time historic high.
"What I will do is a little bit of historical analysis. Those in power at the time when you have economic challenges like that tend not to perform very well."
READ MORE: German economist warns sanctions could affect US, Europe’s poorest and Middle Class more than Russia.