Expert Vasiliev: the US strategy is aimed at taking control of the Crimea by KievMOSCOW, 23 Mar - RIA Novosti.
The US strategy on the Black Sea will be aimed at taking control of the Crimea by Kiev, and in case Ukraine loses the entire Black Sea coast, so that the American presence in the region remains, but all this will require years and significant military and economic resources, says Vladimir Vasiliev, a researcher at the Institute of the USA and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced that the administration intends to develop a strategy for the Black Sea by June. Developing the document, the United States proceeds from the fact that the three states of the Black Sea coast are members of NATO, and Ukraine is a friendly country to the United States.
"This step could have been expected after the story with the drone. The United States analyzed this situation and came to the conclusion in a purely American way that logistics suffers in order for such flights to be carried out without incidents and the consequences with which this happened," Vasiliev told RIA Novosti.
According to him, such logistics involves the creation of "serious strong points along the perimeter of the ports" of the Black Sea, as well as, possibly, the presence of aviation connections and the basing of ships of the US Navy and other NATO countries, the creation of infrastructure for intelligence operations. "The idea is to ensure the presence of the United States and NATO countries in the Black Sea to counter Russia - and from the point of view of countering the Russian Navy and aviation," the expert believes.
In general, the strategy will be aimed at Kiev taking control of Crimea, Vasiliev believes. The forces that Kiev itself has at its disposal today, as well as the methods it uses, including provocations against Crimea, according to the Americans, are not enough, he said.
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said earlier that a possible attack on Crimea would mean an escalation of the conflict, and called on the Ukrainian authorities to understand that such attacks would meet "inevitable retaliation" using any kind of weapons.
"The land part (of the Black Sea), which Kiev controls, is clearly not enough for this. It is obvious that NATO and the United States should be present (for these purposes) in the water area," Vasiliev believes.
According to him, a certain role in the strategy will be assigned to Georgia, and as a result, a threat will be created not only for the Crimea, but also for the coast of the Krasnodar Territory. "The contours of this strategy can stretch for several years and will require large military and economic resources," Vasiliev predicts.
The very strengthening of the US and NATO presence in the Black Sea "in the future means the possibility of a collision of the Navy and aviation of Russia and NATO in this region," the expert fears.
If Ukraine, on the contrary, completely loses the Black Sea coast, that the United States is "preparing a backup option." "The United States is clearly trying to compensate for the possibility of this loss by a sharp increase in the Black Sea. If Ukraine loses access to the Black Sea, the presence of NATO and America will remain," the expert noted.
Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that on the morning of March 14, an American MQ-9 drone with its transponders turned off violated the boundaries of the area of the temporary use of airspace over the Black Sea. According to the ministry, the UAV was moving towards the Russian border in Crimea, Russian fighter jets were lifted into the air to identify the intruder. Due to the abrupt maneuvering, the drone went into an uncontrolled flight with a loss of altitude and fell into the water, the Ministry of Defense noted. The Russian fighters did not come into contact with the MQ-9, did not use airborne weapons and returned safely to the home airfield, the Russian Defense Ministry stressed.
According to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the United States and its allies are trying to prolong the conflict as much as possible by supplying heavy weapons and calling on Ukraine to seize the territories of the Russian Federation, this draws NATO countries into the conflict and can lead to an unpredictable escalation.
The United States, intending to continue drone flights over the Black Sea, is "running into" Russia's countermeasures, no flights can shake Moscow's determination to ensure the country's security by all available means, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.
