“Crimea must be liberated for shipping safety” – Ukraine’s defense minister

Ukraine's defense minister Oleksii Reznikov expressed the need to liberate the Crimean peninsula to ensure complete safety and freedom for shipping in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

The minister has assured that Ukraine will do everything necessary to liberate Crimea during the Black Sea Security Conference in Bucharest.

To ensure 100% safety and freedom of the shipping industry in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, Crimea must be liberated. And it will be liberated. Crimea will return to the Ukrainian family, as it was in 1991. Crimea is Ukrainian, the minister said.

He has also stressed the importance of freedom for shipping in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, which leads to "food security" for the world and economic security for Ukraine.

Among other things, Reznikov has reported on meetings with representatives of Romania's military-industrial complex, which "produces some interesting things that Ukraine needs."

"We also discussed some interesting things about Ukraine's preparation for the NATO summit in Vilnius, which we are waiting for. We outlined a work plan and agreed that my next meeting with Mr. Jens Stoltenberg (NATO Secretary General. – Ed.) will take place literally soon on the fields of Ramstein. Reznikov commented on the meeting in Bucharest to Joane.

The two-day Black Sea conference brings together decision-makers, officials, and experts to discuss security in the wake of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. 

Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba encouraged the West to to work out a comprehensive security network for all nations of the region that feel threatened.

"It's time to turn (the) Black Sea into what the Baltic Sea has become: a sea of NATO," he added.