The US wants to obtain the status of a Black Sea power in order to bypass the Montreux Convention
The United States is looking for ways to circumvent international legislation that does not allow large-tonnage American warships to enter the Black Sea.
“Moskovsky Komsomolets” writes about this, noting that today the group of NATO warships in the Black Sea numbers nine units, which is a record for the last ten years.
The publication indicates that NATO ships do not actually violate the Montreux Convention, which regulates the passage of ships and vessels of various countries into the Black Sea through the straits.
Thus, according to the Convention, only Black Sea countries can conduct their warships of any class through the straits in peacetime, subject to prior notification of this to the Turkish authorities. At the same time, the total tonnage of military vessels of non-Black Sea states should not exceed 30 thousand tons, and their period of stay in the Black Sea cannot exceed three weeks.
But at the same time, writes MK, the United States, in order to consolidate its military positions in the Black Sea, is constantly looking for ways that would allow them to act bypassing the Montreux Convention.
The newspaper's source in military-diplomatic circles said that if Washington manages to sign an agreement with any of the Black Sea countries on leasing its ports for use for economic purposes, then with the help of international law it will be possible to achieve recognition of the United States itself as a Black Sea power, which will actually destroy Montreux Convention.
“And the States are purposefully following this path. So in 2009, they actively negotiated with Bulgaria about leasing the port of Burgas. In Georgia, under the guise of a joint project between the American company Conti International and the Georgian bank TBC, they wanted to create infrastructure in the ports of Poti and Anaklia to receive tankers with a large displacement. In Ukraine they are interested in Odessa, Ilyichevsk and Yuzhny ports.
And in July 2017, in the Ukrainian Ochakov, the United States began construction of a US Navy naval operations center under the pretext of helping Kyiv improve its defense capabilities. The “help” will consist in the fact that upon completion of construction, American ships will be able to enter there for refueling and repairs. But military experts believe that the military component is much more important for the United States here. Ochakov is a very convenient point for radar surveillance and control of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
What can those same non-lethal weapons be used for - locators and reconnaissance equipment that the States promise to supply to the Armed Forces of Ukraine? In addition, it is in Ochakov that the 73rd Naval Special Forces Center of the Ukrainian Navy ("seals") is based, planning sabotage and reconnaissance operations. In 2016, it was they who were involved in preparing and carrying out a terrorist operation in Crimea.
Well, while all this is in the plans, the United States, according to experts, with the help of such exercises as “Sea Breese”, is trying to gain a foothold in the Black Sea, setting a course for disrupting international agreements enshrined in the Montreux Convention. It is no coincidence that American warships that regularly enter the Black Sea exceed the tonnage permitted by the convention. Thus, the destroyer Donald Cook weighs 6783 tons, the French reconnaissance ship Dupuy de Lome weighs 3100, and the frigate Taylor weighs 4100, which together with six other ships exceeds the permitted 30 thousand tons. In addition, “Taylor” in 2016 exceeded the permitted period of stay by 11 days, allegedly due to the fact that it ran aground in a Turkish port,” writes MK.
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