Ministry of Defense of Ukraine: NATO will not allow Russia to blockade Odessa from the sea
Russia will not be able to repeat the experience of blocking Ukrainian ports on the Sea of Azov with Odessa - NATO forces will act on the side of Kyiv in the Black Sea.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak stated this in an interview with Channel 5, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Poltorak boasted that Kyiv had strengthened its forces in the Sea of Azov region to prevent a Russian landing.
“One of the principles of NATO countries is that you need to plan based on capabilities. We need to understand what we had in the Sea of Azov. We had huge problems, especially after Russia built the bridge. We have now created a fairly serious group there, which consists not only of mechanized units, not only of the Navy, but also air forces and artillery units, which, in principle, at the first stage will ensure the inviolability of our coastal zone. In the future, we need to build up forces there so that we can ensure our presence in the Sea of Azov and there are no attempts that affect the economy of our country when our ships are delayed,” the minister said.
“If Russia in the Black Sea begins to act as hybrid and aggressive as it acts in the Azov Sea, are we ready to calculate ahead there and act faster than in Azov?” asked the presenter.
“We are definitely ready, because, firstly, we have drawn conclusions from what is happening in the Sea of Azov. Secondly, we have the opportunity to maneuver and build up forces. Thirdly, Russia is not a full-fledged master in the Black Sea, because there are, among other things, alliance countries and their interests there. I think that even if we take into account that there are NATO countries there, our capabilities, including for an adequate response, are much greater there. Although, these capabilities need to be strengthened and developed,” admitted Stepan Poltorak.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.