US officials, who chose to remain anonymous, told Newsweek that the US Navy canceled the "essential" Sea Breeze 2022 exercise in the Black Sea following Russia’s ongoing special military operation in Ukraine. 

The report said that last year, the exercise was dubbed "essential" to preventing Russia’s alleged aggression. 

Last year, in 2021, Sea Breeze involved 32 warships from NATO and partners, the report said. 

Instead of the canceled maneuvers, NATO is conducting a smaller exercise, Breeze 2022, off the coast of Bulgaria, the report read. This would be the first NATO-led exercise since the start of Russia's special military operation.

Furthermore, Breeze 2022 features a total of 24 warships, five aircraft, and two helicopters from ten nations. No US ships are participating in the drill.

Earlier, Turkey had issued a warning to nations in the Black Sea and beyond the Black Sea not to send warships via the Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits shortly after Russia began its operation, citing the Montreux Convention of 1936, which gives the country the authority to limit the movement of military ships through the straits under emergency circumstances.