It has been 7 years since Russian troops entered Crimea and invaded many strategic parts of the peninsula. Since then, Russia claimed both the Crimea and the Donbas region of Ukraine, making 7% of the country.
In recent days, the tension in the Donbas region is highly increased as Russia moved its troops to the border between Ukraine. According to Ukrainian intelligence sources, there are extra 16 battalion groups (approximately 14.000 troops) moved around Crimea and the Donbas region[1]. Russia’s unexpected move was criticized by NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg as he finds the movement was ‘deeply concerning’ and ‘largest massing Russian troops since the annexation of Crimea’. On the other side, Russia claimed that this move was totally legal as they considered it ‘internal affairs’.
As a part of NATO, the United States condemned the mobility of the Russian troops in the Crimean border. After that, Foreign Minister Anthony Blinken said that ‘there will be costs’ if Russia maintains its aggressiveness in the region. It was expected that the US will make some moves in order to ease the tensions in the area. According to CNN’s report on 9 April, the United States was considered to send two naval ships to help Ukraine[2]. Through Bosphorus and Dardanelles strait of Turkey, a NATO ally, it was likely that the US would deploy ships to the Black Sea. Yet, Turkish news claimed that the US gave up on sailing ships to the Black Sea.
This leads that there is another important NATO actor in this conflict is Turkey, the country that has geostrategic importance for the US and Ukraine by controlling two important straits (Dardanelles and Bosphorus) that connects the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. Last month, Ukraine agreed to buy Turkish drones to fight against the Russian invasion of Crimea. Turkey’s significant role was acknowledged by Zelensky, the Prime Minister of Ukraine, as he states that ‘Turkey’s support for the restoration of our sovereignty and territorial integrity is extremely important’[3]. It is known that Turkey and Russia relations are highly strengthened in recent years as Turkey bought S-400’s from Russia yet, Turkey is still a member of NATO.
These developments and attitudes of NATO, the US, and Turkey also give a possibility for Ukraine to join NATO. This is because it is evident that NATO activity is increased in the region. Another NATO ally, United Kingdom, plans to sail warships for the Black Sea in May if the tensions between Ukraine and Russia rise[4].
Additionally, the tensions between Washington and Moscow are highly increased with this conflict. Last week, the Biden administration imposed sanctions due to Russia’s ‘harmful foreign activities’, and Russia answered it by asking 10 U.S diplomats to leave the country.
[1]Peter, L. (2021) ‘Is Russia going to war with Ukraine and other questions’ Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56720589 [2] https://edition.cnn.com/2021/04/08/politics/ukraine-us-black-sea/index.html [3] Mathews, S. (2021) ‘Ukraine turns to Turkey as Russia threatens full-scale war’ Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/11/russia-talks-of-full-scale-war-with-ukraine-kiev-turns-to-turkey [4] https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/uk-warships-sail-black-sea-may-ukraine-russia-tensions-rise-sunday-times-2021-04-18/
Comments