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Pence Asked Merkel to Provoke Russia by Sending Warships to Crimea

  • U.S. pushed for operation in strait between Crimea, Russia
  • Episode highlights trans-Atlantic, Russia tensions in region
Angela Merkel, right, shakes hands with Mike Pence in Munich on Feb. 16. 

Angela Merkel, right, shakes hands with Mike Pence in Munich on Feb. 16. 

Photographer: Christof Stache/AFP via Getty Images

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The U.S. leaned on German Chancellor Angela Merkel last month to conduct a naval maneuver in Russia’s backyard aimed at provoking President Vladimir Putin, according to three people familiar with the talks.

At a Feb. 16 meeting at the Munich Security Conference, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence urged Merkel to send German warships through a narrow channel between the Crimean peninsula and mainland Russia to show Putin that Western powers won’t surrender their access to those waters, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.