Why British Challenge Russia in Black Sea
Britain and Russia have been at loggerheads since a British Royal Navy warship collided with Russian forces in the Black Sea on June 23. The Russian news agency Interfax reported that British Destroyer Defenders were warned by Russian border guards when they entered Russian waters and were shot down by a number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Russia’s defense ministry says the British ship violated international maritime law. The Russian news agency ‘Tas’ is reporting. After the incident, the British military attache was called to the Russian Ministry of Defense. A statement from the British Ministry of Defense said on Twitter that no warning had been issued to the “defender”. Instead, the ship was crossing Ukraine’s territorial waters “innocently” in accordance with international law. Reuters says British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told lawmakers in parliament that he was not surprised by Russia’s demands; Because such incidents are regular with Russia.
On June 24, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the movement of British warships off the coast of Crimea was perfectly normal. Britain will continue to challenge Moscow to uphold freedom of navigation at sea. He said the use of international waters was perfectly correct; And the important thing here is that Britain did not recognize Russia’s occupation of Crimea. Basically Boris Johnson’s words define this conflict. Britain still sees Crimea as part of Ukraine, and Britain also sees the Crimean maritime border as part of Ukraine; Not as an area of Russia. Both Britain and Russia, on the other hand, are talking about upholding international law based on the definition of Crimea ownership. But the question is, what is Britain doing in the Black Sea thousands of miles away from its own sea?
Defender arrived in the Mediterranean with the British Royal Navy’s giant aircraft carrier, Queen Elizabeth. Separated from that group, the Defender and the Dutch naval frigate Everstein entered the Black Sea. Two days before the incident, on June 21, a military agreement was signed with Ukraine on the deck of Defender in the Ukrainian port of Odessa. The British Ministry of Defense says the agreement was signed in accordance with an agreement signed between the two countries last October. Under the agreement, Britain will build six small high-speed missile warships for Ukraine and supply two old British Royal Navy minesweepers to Ukraine. Britain will also help build two naval bases for the Ukrainian navy. At the same time, the British government is funding 1.8 billion dollars for this project. It is also mentioned that some of Ukraine’s current warplanes are suitable for carrying Western missiles. Britain will also help build a frigate for the Ukrainian navy.
Brian Whitmore, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a US think tank, says tensions in the region have been high since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014; The conflict between the Russians and the British warships is part of that tension. US and British military aircraft regularly patrol the international airspace in the Black Sea around Crimea, and Russian warplanes intercept them. Steven Pifer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, likened the incident to a storm over a cup of tea. He says Russia is trying to say that the West has taken an aggressive role on Russia’s borders; And Russia is defending its sovereignty. In this, Russia is trying to defend itself internationally in the face of Western pressure; On the other hand, the Russian government is also seeking support from its own people. But he says Russia will continue to assert itself as a Black Sea power, and the West will continue to challenge Russia.
Britain’s interests in the Black Sea are not new. When the Russian army appeared on the outskirts of Istanbul in 1878, Russia was forced to retreat due to British obstruction. Britain is unwilling to hand over control of the strategically important Bosphorus to Russia; So speaking of the security of the Bosphorus, Britain established a military base in Cyprus; Which still exists today. Britain ensured that control of the Bosphorus did not pass to Russia during the partition of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I in 1917. Through the Lausanne Treaty, signed in 1923, Britain ceded control of the Bosphorus to the League of Nations. However, after the advent of fascist Italy and Nazi Germany in the 1930s, the Bosphorus was redefined by the Montreux Convention in 1936; Which are still in force today. For the first time since World War II, when Turkey sought help from the United States under pressure from the Soviet Union, the United States arrived in the Black Sea, and Turkey has been dependent on the United States for four decades. After the end of the Cold War in 2004, when the Black Sea countries Romania and Bulgaria joined NATO, Russia’s tensions with the West in the Black Sea began. In 2008, Russia invaded Georgia. Then, in 2014, after the fall of the Russian-backed government through a revolution in Ukraine, war broke out in eastern Ukraine and Russia occupied Crimea.
The British Royal Navy’s destroyer ‘Defender’ and the Dutch frigate ‘Everstein’ have set out on a mission to the Far East with the British aircraft carrier ‘Queen Elizabeth’. It is still too late for ships to reach the South China Sea; But already they have been able to create a news story like coming in the international media. British warships are regularly deployed with NATO missions in the Black Sea; However, US activities came in the media. The incident highlighted the British mission in the Black Sea. In addition to implementing its objective of controlling Russia in the Black Sea, Britain seeks to take the lead in upholding international law in a changed world order; They want to use every opportunity.
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