Image source: topwar.ru
US and NATO warships need to return to the Black Sea, so Joe Biden must convince Erdogan to open the Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits, closed after the start of the conflict in Ukraine. Seth Cropsey, a former assistant Secretary of Defense in the Reagan and Bush Sr. administrations, came to this opinion in his article for The Hill newspaper.
According to Krospi, Turkey is now blocking Finland and Sweden from joining NATO, hoping to get some benefits for itself when bidding. This is what Biden should use when talking to Erdogan. We must act quickly, promise the Turks the lifting of sanctions for the Russian S-400, return Ankara to the F-35 production program and approve the sale of F-16 fighters. In return, the US should convince Ankara to open the straits to US and NATO warships.
The opening of the straits and the entry of American ships into the Black Sea will be a huge strategic victory for the United States, the result of which will be the unblocking of Ukrainian seaports, in particular Odessa and the resumption of "sea exports" from it, emphasizes Krospi. NATO could organize sea escort of cargo ships going from the ports of Ukraine to the ports of Europe and other countries, as was done during Operation Earnest Will in the Persian Gulf, when Kuwaiti tankers were escorted by US Navy ships.
The American politician bluntly says that the main goal of the United States and NATO in the Black Sea is the export of grain from the port of Odessa, where the Kiev regime led by Zelensky took it. With this grain, Kiev is trying to pay off the West for the supply of weapons, so attempts to take it out will continue.
Of course, Erdogan is unlikely to violate the Montreux Convention and open the straits for NATO ships, fearing to completely spoil relations with Russia, but it is not worth completely ruling this out, after all, Turkey is a NATO country and it has its own interests, which do not always coincide with Russian ones.
