BRUSSELS – Russia must respect its international obligations, including ensuring freedom of navigation in the Azov Sea, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference at NATO Headquarters in Brussels on Oct. 24.
Asked by the Kyiv Post to comment on Russia’s increasing military presence in the Azov Sea, a body of water between Ukraine and Russia that is under joint sovereignty according to a treaty the two countries signed in 2003, Stoltenberg said he had discussed the issue with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin in August.
“I expressed (then) my full support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including also the freedom of navigation and importance for Ukraine to be able to have open and free sea-lines of communication, including in the Azov Sea,” Stoltenberg said.
“But this is, of course, also important for the NATO alliance, for our ships and for trade between the (members of the) NATO alliance and Ukraine. It’s important that Russia respects its international obligations, including freedom of navigation in the Azov Sea.”
Stoltenberg said Russia’s actions in the Azov Sea follow a pattern “we have seen over a long time, especially in this region, with the illegal annexation of Crimea, with the new bridge (across the Kerch Strait) and, of course, with Russian support for military activities in eastern Ukraine, in the Donbas.”
Earlier, on Oct. 23, the situation in Azov Sea was also discussed during a plenary session of the European Parliament. Reporting to MEPs, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said the militarization of the Azov Sea was not in any country’s interests.
“This can only destabilize the delicate security situation in the wider Black Sea region,” Mogherini said.
“Let me remind us all that the Black Sea is a European sea, and we do not want to witness yet another military build-up in our immediate region,” she said. “We will continue to push for the respect of international law and conventions, and to support Ukraine in these challenging circumstances.”
