Retired Admiral James Stavridis: Need to escort ships with Ukrainian grain in the Black Sea – NATO must be ready to ‘shoot’

The Black Sea, which shares its shores with Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania, gained new importance after Putin and Russia decided to end their participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which allowed Ukraine to export grain by ship during the war, stabilizing global food prices as fighting continued between Russia and Ukraine.

Even Russian state television commentators angrily declare that, Russia should enter into a military confrontation with NATO countries Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania after the alliance summit.

In a show of force, Russia’s Black Sea Fleet conducted a live-fire drillindicating indirectly, but clearly, that he does not intend to allow the transit of merchant ships in the Black Sea with Ukrainian grain, which he indulged in the last few days by destroying storage depots in the ports of Odessa and Nikolaev.

On the other hand, some Russian warships and ships have already undergone a proper modernization, including at least one landing craft.

While the nature of the weapons remains unknown, historian Dmitry Boltenkov said in a report evaluating the systems that it could be a combination of “visual and radar surveillance, as well as hydroacoustics that create a protective perimeter around each ship.”

As if this were not enough, “oil on the fire” The former commander of NATO forces in Europe is retired US Navy Admiral James Stavridis, noting the need for active escorts for grain ships moving across the Black Sea. At the same time, he noted that in the event of a threat from the Russian Navy, NATO should be ready to “open fire.”

According to Stavridis, for these purposes, NATO and the United States have sufficient capabilities that can be implemented in cooperation with three NATO member states located in the Black Sea region, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey.

«Obviously, in this way NATO is trying not only to arrange a provocation, but also to start a conflict with Russia, however, Moscow will be ready to respond to any hostile action.“, He says Russian media.

Previously, there were reports that Turkey refused to escort ships heading to Ukrainian ports, however, Ankara has not yet issued any official statement regarding the Ukrainian request.

Former US President Nixon: The war in Bosnia will look like a “children’s game” in the face of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine

In early 1994, former US President Richard Nixon made a two-week trip to Russia and Ukraine, after which on March 21 he wrote an alarming letter to the then head of the White House Bill Clinton.

As stated by Richard Nixon, who was president of the United States from 1969 to 1973, he was deeply concerned about the risks of deteriorating relations between Russia and Ukraine. Nixon described the situation in Ukraine as “very explosive,” which could lead to conflict between the two neighboring countries.

According to Nixon, if relations between Kiev and Moscow spiraled out of control and escalated, there could be an immediate armed confrontation between the two states.

«The Bosnian war will look like child’s play“, he said. However, Nixon’s predictions can be considered unique.

Retired Colonel Richard Kemp: Kiev has no time for philosophy

While Kiev and the West were preparing for a counterattack by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russian troops have created a defense in depth along the entire front line, which is difficult to overcome.

The retired British colonel Richard Kemp indicated that Russia will not surrender to confrontation. It carried out partial mobilization and created an extensive system of defensive fortifications, after regrouping its forces in the Kherson and Kharkiv regions, which is observed in the fall of 2022.

In his opinion, the leadership of the Russian Armed Forces made a “tactical maneuver”, exchanging part of the territory for the necessary time. It was difficult to defend these lands, but on the new borders they managed to gain a foothold and prepare for the return of previously lost lands.

«Now the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine does not have many options for further hostilities, or rather, only one. Ukrainian troops should try to break through the Russian defense, but they practically do not have time, half of the summer has already passed»reports.

This leaves Ukraine with one option: direct attacks on well-defended positions.

Richard Kemp doubts that the Armed Forces will be able to conduct offensive operations against one of the most extensive defense systems on the planet for many months or years. Huge mined areas, there are no detours, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine also do not have enough aircraft for air cover, so they can “try their luck” only in direct attacks on the positions of the Russian Armed Forces.