"Peter the Great" arrived at the home port of the Northern Fleet in Severomorsk on November 24, 1997. In the beginning of 1997, the second stage of the cruiser’s test program was to be performed. Lack of funding forced the Navy to postpone these plans. The trials were finally completed this year.

The cruiser will remain in the Northern Fleet. As was stated in late October of 1997 by Admiral Kasatonov, the first deputy of the Russian Navy, the assignment of Peter the Great to the Northern Fleet is beneficial from an economic point of view. Some of the still unfinished systems and facilities on board of the vessel will be completed within the next years. Since the scientific and industrial potential of the country is concentrated in its European part, keeping the cruiser in the Northern Fleet will help to reduce future expenses.

The vessel is scheduled to go on extended sea trials, cruising the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, this month.