Andrii Klymenko, the head of a monitoring team at the Black Sea Strategic Research Institute, believes that three NATO countries - Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey - can ensure the safety of navigation in the Black Sea, the CFTS portal reports, citing the Latifundist publication.
According to the expert, these countries could resolve two issues. The first issue is the protection of their own gas fields. "If you draw an imaginary straight line from the Bosporus to Odesa, it coincides with the recommended sea route for commercial ships heading to the Odesa ports. To the right of this line, there are huge natural gas deposits in Turkey's maritime economic zone, approximately halfway between the Bosporus and Sevastopol. Turkey has already laid a gas pipeline from there to the coast," he said.
To the left of the abovementioned imaginary line, there are also several gas platforms in Romania's maritime economic zone, where it produces hydrocarbons. They need to be protected. Therefore, the countries could create a group of patrol warships to not only patrol their zones but also escort ships.
The second issue that the three NATO countries could address is the protection of commercial shipping from the threat of mines. The number of cases of floating mines being found in the Black Sea has increased, and the number will increase further after the Russian sabotage at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant. Therefore, according to Klymenko, a group of minesweepers is needed to ensure the safety of navigation off the coasts of Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey. There are minesweepers in the navies of all these countries.
Klymenko also emphasized that a warship sailing in the Black Sea under the flag of Turkey, for example, is the territory of Turkey, and the same applies to Romania. According to him, the Russians should understand that any attack on or obstruction of the movement of warships flying the NATO flag is an attack on a NATO country.
"Therefore, the answer to the question of whether the grain corridor can work without Russia is that this is possible. All that is needed is the willingness of NATO countries to help," Klymenko said.
