NATO foreign ministerial to focus on Black Sea security, support for Georgia, Ukraine

NATO online foreign ministerial will kick off today with a focus on Black Sea security and ways to support NATO allies Georgia and Ukraine.

Before the start of the ministerial NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that the Black Sea region is of strategic importance to the alliance. 

The Black Sea region is of strategic importance to NATO and to all allies. The three NATO Allies – Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania – are coastal countries. We work closely with our valued partners, Georgia and Ukraine. Therefore, NATO maintains a significant presence in the Black Sea region, and will work more closely with Ukraine and Georgia,” Stoltenberg said. 

He stated that ‘Russia continues to violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty of these two countries through the illegal annexation of Crimea and the presence of Russian troops in parts of Georgia.’ 

• Ex-deputy Sec-General of NATO: new status for Georgia, Ukraine may push forward their NATO membership

Stoltenberg said that NATO responded to Russia's behavior, ‘which continues to actively militarize the annexed Crimean peninsula, by stepping up political and practical support for Ukraine and Georgia to work together to strengthen security throughout the Black Sea region’.

We will discuss how we will address these issues together on Wednesday when we meet with the foreign ministers of the two partner countries," Stoltenberg said. 

NATO foreign ministers will meet via secure video conference to discuss key issues for the alliance which include NATO’s continued adaptation, Russia’s military build-up, the rise of China, and NATO’s training mission in Afghanistan.