Ukraine urges NATO to increase Black Sea security, integrate defense capabilities

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba has called on NATO to increase its involvement in securing the Black Sea and to integrate Ukrainian air and missile defenses with those of NATO allies.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba attend the 'United for Justice' conference in the Western Ukrainian city of Lviv, 03 March 2023.

EPA/MYKOLA TYS

Speaking via video link at a Black Sea security conference in Bucharest on Thursday, Kuleba emphasized the strategic importance of the Black Sea for Europe's peace and future.

"Sadly, it is also a showcase of how rapidly things can deteriorate if one neglects threats. It's time to turn Black Sea into what the Baltic Sea has become, a sea of NATO," Kuleba said.

"This is a shared sea, it must be a sea of cooperation, interaction and security for all its littoral states. And this security is indivisible."

The region has been a critical theater of conflict since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with both countries relying heavily on the sea for trade. Russia's Black Sea fleet is located in Crimea, which was annexed in 2014, and capturing Ukrainian ports remains a key objective for Moscow.

"We need to address the common Russia problem together. For instance, I support the expert idea to integrate the air and missile defence systems of Ukraine with the ones of the Black and Baltic Sea NATO allies," Kuleba noted.

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Source: PAP