Military personnel from 12 NATO countries begun an annual naval exercise led by Romania in the Black Sea and Danube river delta this week.
Over 2,300 troops are taking part in the so-called "Sea Shield" drill, aimed at strengthening collaboration among allied naval, air and land forces.
1,600 Romanian troops are participating alongside 11 partner states — Albania, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Greece, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Spain, the United States and Turkey.
The exercise was organised for the first time in 2015. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has made it increasingly relevant, and Romania's Naval Forces describe it as "the most complex event" it conducts.
Black Sea's key role in Russia's war on Ukraine
The Black Sea is a tightly enclosed and relatively small sea comprising the near waters of the countries that surround it: Turkey to the south, Bulgaria and Romania to the west, Georgia to the east, and Ukraine and Russia to the north.
Control of the Black Sea’s near waters has been contested throughout the centuries and has played a role in the current Russian-Ukraine war.
Russia’s seizure of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 allowed it to control the naval port of Sevastopol. What were near waters of Ukraine became de facto near waters for Russia.
Controlling these near waters allowed Russia to disrupt Ukraine’s trade, especially the export of grain to African far waters.
But Russia’s actions were thwarted through the collaboration of Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey to allow passage of cargo ships through their near waters, then through the Bosporus into the Mediterranean Sea.
Efforts to constrain Russia’s control of Ukraine’s near waters in the Black Sea, and Russia’s unwillingness to face the consequences of attacking ships in NATO countries’ near waters, meant Ukraine was still able to access far waters for economic gain and keep the Ukrainian economy afloat.
On 25 March, the US announced it had proposed a ceasefire deal to Ukraine and Russia to "eliminate the use of force" in the Black Sea after talks in Saudi Arabia.
But the partial ceasefire in the Black Sea that could allow safer shipments has fallen foul of conditions imposed by Kremlin negotiators.
“We consider the models and solutions proposed by the Americans quite seriously, but we can’t just accept all of them as they are,” Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.
Moscow is holding out on a deal to ease shipping in the Black Sea in order to “stall efforts toward a general ceasefire and extract additional concessions from the West,” according to an assessment Monday by the Institute for the Washington-based Study of War think tank.
