OREANDA-NEWS. NATO and Ukraine will not ask Russia for permission on what to do in the Black Sea, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavel Klimkin. According to him, Kiev conducted negotiations with NATO for four months and came to the conclusion that it may not be interested in the opinion of Moscow regarding joint actions with the alliance. "We will simply do it. No one will ask, say: it is possible, but it is impossible," Klimkin said.

He called the Crimea Ukrainian, in connection with which, according to him, the passage of vessels should be free and through the Kerch Strait. The minister said that Kiev would not ask Moscow’s permission to monitor the Black and Azov seas from "sea, air and space." Also, Ukraine will not ask Russia for permission to conduct exercises and an enhanced presence of military ships in the waters of these seas, Klimkin added. 

He called the package of measures agreed upon at NATO important and informative. On April 4, it became known that the NATO countries agreed on a package of measures to support Ukraine in the Black Sea. As stated by the US Permanent Representative to NATO, Kay Bailey Hutchison, the alliance intends to ensure the safety of the passage of Ukrainian ships through the Kerch Strait. In particular, exercises, exchange of information and calls at ports in the water area are envisaged. According to him, the measures taken will help improve NATO's awareness of the situation in the Black Sea.

Recall that the Crimea became the Russian region after the referendum held there in March 2014, in which the majority of the inhabitants of the peninsula spoke in favor of reunification with Russia and Kiev’s last attempt to arrange a provocation and send its military ships to the Kerch Strait, without receiving permission from Russia, ended the arrest of these very ships and their crews.