Russia regards the Black Sea as its Mare Nostrum ("our sea") and will block any effort to provide for the legitimate defense of NATO members there.
BY STEPHEN BLANK ON 7/3/16 AT
Newsweek
Putin Says Russia Did Not Influence Britain's Vote To Leave EU
This article first appeared on the Atlantic Council site.
By invading Ukraine and annexing Crimea, Russian President Vladimir Putin has transformed the security situation in the Black Sea.
Upon capturing those territories, Moscow lost no time in seizing Ukrainian energy facilities in the Black Sea and accelerating its ongoing military modernization there.
As a result, Moscow has built a combined arms force of land, sea, air and electronic forces that NATO leaders admit is fully capable of denying access to NATO forces seeking to enter the Black Sea during a conflict.
It has also deployed nuclear-capable weapons to the Black Sea area and is apparently building a similar network of anti-access area denial (A2/AD) capabilities against NATO in both the eastern Mediterranean around Syria and in the Caucasus.




