NATO defence ministers agreed to form a „trilateral initiative” to clear sea mines in the Black Sea, aiming to create a security belt for civilian shipping and secure a corridor for Ukrainian grain exports. The operation is critical to ensuring global food security and has helped increase shipping in the grain corridor in the second half of October. The Black Sea Mine Countermeasures Squadron in Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey’s region is critical to addressing security challenges independently, contradicting Kremlin anti-NATO propaganda.
The operation is an important component of practicing the interaction of NATO Black Sea navies in the context of the sea becoming a theatre of operations between Ukraine and Russia. The activities of the joint minesweeping squadron also help NATO gain a better understanding of the operational situation in the region and is an important component of practicing the interaction of NATO Black Sea navies in the context of the sea becoming a theatre of operations between Ukraine and Russia.
However, both options would involve NATO partners in a war between Russia and Ukraine, which would be contrary to NATO’s strategic policy. NATO convoys can protect Ukraine’s grain harvest from Putin, but the strategic impact of the de-mining operation initiative on the regional security situation remains uncertain.
A successful mine countermeasures operation will demonstrate that NATO Allies have the means to influence the security of the Black Sea region without posing a specific threat. Ukraine has expressed a desire to participate in such activities, but there is a risk of Russian manipulation, increasing skepticism among Black Sea partners. Ukraine requests Bulgaria’s assistance in ensuring Black Sea security and requires advanced naval capabilities, such as mine countermeasures ships, unmanned underwater vehicles, and integrated surveillance systems.
The Montreux Convention establishes several critical conditions for naval activities in the Black Sea, including restrictions on non-Black Sea countries, the Kremlin’s irreversible losses of the Black Sea Fleet, and Ankara’s decision to „open” the Bosphorus to Russian warships. In the medium term, Ukraine must focus on its own capabilities to limit the presence of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the Black Sea.
The lack of a collective NATO response to the Kremlin’s immediate threats has prompted the Alliance’s Black Sea trio to consolidate due to a clear common security interest. The demining initiative benefits both regional security and countries in the Global South that rely on Ukraine for food supplies. Ukraine’s successful efforts to weaken and limit the Russian fleet’s operational area prompted Black Sea NATO states to act on a demining operation. To effectively contribute to regional security, Ukraine’s potential participation in the trilateral initiative will necessitate advanced naval capabilities.