At the end of an international security conference in Romania. Kiev calls on NATO to secure the Black Sea and integrate its defenses with Ukrainian, Moscow responds

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Thursday at the conclusion of the first Black Sea Security Conference in the Romanian capital Bucharest that NATO should play a greater role for security in the Black Sea, and integrate Ukrainian air and missile defenses with those of NATO members.

The conference, which is being held within the framework of the International Platform of Crimea and discusses the Russian war on Ukraine and its effects on the region and democracy in the world, concluded today.

The conference, organized by the Romanian and Ukrainian foreign ministries, was attended by a number of European foreign and defense ministers, as well as politicians, military personnel and experts from about 40 countries.

Speaking via video link, Kuleba added: "The Black Sea has a fundamental role to play in bringing peace and moving towards the future in all of Europe."

"Unfortunately, it is also an example of how quickly things can deteriorate if threats are ignored. It is time to transform the Black Sea into what the Baltic Sea has become, to be a NATO sea."

The Black Sea and Ukraine's overlook coast have become key witnesses to the fallout from Russia's war on Ukraine since it began in February 2022. A Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports threatened to cause a global famine last year before the United Nations and Turkey brokered a deal to keep the ports open.

The Ukrainian official also stressed that all regions, including Crimea, must return to Ukrainian sovereignty, and that this will be achieved, stressing that real peace lies in Ukraine's restoration of its borders.

Today, Russian forces are committing atrocities unprecedented in Europe since World War II, he said, calling for tougher sanctions against Russia and the creation of a special international tribunal capable of bringing Russian President Vladimir Putin and others from Russia's highest political and military leadership to justice.

In response to the remarks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Black Sea should remain a "sea of cooperation" for riparian countries.

He pointed out that Kuleba's remarks contain contradictions, stressing that "the Black Sea will never be the sea of NATO."

It is noteworthy that Romania and Ukraine organized yesterday and Thursday in Bucharest the first conference on Black Sea security in cooperation with the Crimean International Platform, a mechanism aimed at "abolishing the occupation of Crimea and restoring the security of the Black Sea," according to the Ukrainian government.