A maritime security treaty signed this week between Ukraine and the United Kingdom drew a sharp response from the Kremlin on Friday, in particular with regard to a reference to the Azov Sea.
“That is an internal sea of Russia. There can scarcely be talk of a joint approach there by Ukraine and the United Kingdom,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said in Moscow.
Russian forces control the entire shoreline of the Sea of Azov, which lies to the east of the Crimean Peninsula, and Moscow has annexed the relevant Ukrainian regions.
The treaty, referred to by London as a “landmark 100-year partnership,” was causing concern in Moscow, Peskov said. “If one takes into consideration that the UK is a NATO member, then the deployment of its military infrastructure towards our borders is an element of considerable concern,” he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer agreed on cooperation between their respective navies in a treaty signed on Thursday.
London is to assist Kiev in building up its navy to “bolster military collaboration on maritime security through a new framework to strengthen Baltic Sea, Black Sea, and Azov Sea security and deter ongoing Russian aggression,” the treaty says.
