U.S. pledges to back allies on Black Sea

SOFIA, Bulgaria — The U.S. secretary of state assured allies bordering the Black Sea on Monday that they could depend on his country’s support to make the region more secure, prosperous and integrated.

Addressing the attendees of the Second Black Sea Security Conference in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, via a video feed, Anthony Blinken underscored the importance of investing in the region’s security to ensure peace and freedom across Europe.

Russia illegally annexed the Crimean Peninsula — on the northern coast of the Black Sea — in 2014. It has served as a key hub supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine which President Vladimir Putin ordered in Feb. 2022.

“Putin believed that Ukraine’s neighbors in the region would be divided, but he was wrong,” Blinken said, adding that “the United States will continue to support Ukraine both so it can defend itself today and stand on its feet.”

His Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, said his country needed essential military support, including artillery, ammunition, and air defense systems to bolster its capacity in the face of the Kremlin’s invasion.

Kuleba, also speaking via video, said increasing the capabilities of the Ukrainian air defense will also strengthen regional and global stability, as it in turn protects the security of Ukraine’s neighbors from Russian aerial terror.

“Today, there’s no other language Moscow understands better than the language of force. This is what they respect, anything else is seen as a weakness,” the Ukrainian foreign minister said.

Kubela also said the Black Sea must become “the sea of NATO, of peace and stability,” calling on the alliance to implement “a comprehensive and ambitious Black Sea strategy aimed at reducing Russia’s malign influence.”