Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria have united to conduct mine-clearing operations in the Black Sea, aiming to enhance maritime safety and protect Ukraine’s crucial grain exports to secure financial support.
As explained, the initiative seeks to neutralize mines that have drifted into specific Black Sea areas due to Russia’s nearly two-year invasion of Ukraine. Another objective is to keep the security efforts limited to these three NATO allies, excluding the involvement of other NATO members like the US and UK, in order to prevent escalating tensions in the region.
Both Russia and Ukraine are significant grain producers, and the conflict has posed increasing risks to the safe transportation of goods. Despite these challenges, Ukraine has managed to ship 15 million tons of cargo through its Black Sea corridor since mid-September, predominantly foodstuffs. With diminishing financial aid from allies, ensuring these commodities reach global markets has become crucial, especially to manage last year’s unexpectedly large harvest.
Despite the coalition comprising NATO allies, the operation is not under NATO’s official auspices. Turkey opposes the presence of naval assets from other NATO countries, including the US, in the Black Sea, arguing that such deployments could worsen regional tensions. Recently, Turkey also announced it would block the passage of two mine-hunting vessels donated to Ukraine by Britain for the duration of the conflict.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Turkey has aligned with NATO allies in condemning the actions and has restricted Russian naval vessels’ access through the Bosporus Strait.