The North Atlantic Alliance stressed on Friday that it considered Russia’s media plan to close certain areas of the Black Sea to be “unjustified.” At the same time, NATO called on Moscow “to ensure free access to Ukrainian ports in the Sea of Azov”. The AFP agency informed about it.
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Russia’s “continued militarization of Crimea, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov poses a further threat to Ukraine’s independence and weakens the stability of the wider region,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in a statement.
Russian state media reported on Friday that Moscow intends to ban the voyages of foreign military and official state ships in certain areas of the Black Sea until the end of October.
The restrictions will concern the western tip of Crimea, the southern coast of the peninsula from the port city of Sevastopol to the resort of Hurzuf, and the “rectangle” at the Kerch Peninsula near the Opuk Nature Reserve.
The last area is located near the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov and is extremely important for the export of grain and steel from Ukraine.
The move has raised concerns in the United States and the European Union. NATO reiterated its concerns, saying it was an “unwarranted step”. The alliance also called on Russia to “end the escalation immediately, stop provocations and respect its international obligations.”
Ukraine was free to use the Kerch Strait for voyages, as well as Russia, until 2014 – but then Russia, after annexing Crimea, began to take full control of this waterway. An expensive 19-kilometer bridge connecting Crimea with the Russian mainland, which Moscow opened in 2018, also leads across the Kerch Strait.
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