Time to turn Black Sea into a sea of NATO, Ukraine foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba urges West

Bucharest, Romania: A  year after the sinking of a flagship Russian warship, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Thursday urged the West that “it was time to turn (the) Black Sea into what the Baltic Sea has become: a sea of NATO”. Addressing a conference on Black Sea security virtually, he said,“It’s time to work out a comprehensive security network for all nations of all the region that feel threatened.” “It’s time to turn (the) Black Sea into what the Baltic Sea has become: a sea of NATO,” he added. Kuleba said it was regrettable that West has no consistent Black Sea strategy while Russia always had one. “I regret to say, but the West had no consistent Black Sea strategy, while Russia has always had one: aggressive, revanchist, and barbaric,” he added. The Black Sea security conference takes place on the first anniversary of the sinking of the Moskva, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet. The warship sank in mid-April last year following what the Kremlin called an explosion on board. Ukraine said its forces struck the vessel with missiles. Kuleba said Ukraine wanted “peaceful, law-abiding countries” to be able to “once again use the shared sea to trade, travel and live freely without fear of Russian warships”. Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov also attended the conference together with his Romanian and Moldovan counterparts. Initiated by Kyiv, the two-day conference brings together decision makers, officials and experts to discuss security in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .