Azernews.Az

Russian, Ukrainian and Turkish defense ministries plan to establish a new alliance called the Black Sea Defense Treaty.
Although most documents paving the way for the new regional alliance were drafted in 2003, the election of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko in 2005 delayed the creation of the new organization for a long time.
This idea is currently being negotiated once again. In the past few years, Turkey has been trying to convince the Russian Defense Ministry to launch bilateral talks, saying Ukraine would subsequently join in.
Now that Ukraine has a new president in office, Kiev is ready to cooperate with Moscow and Ankara. Chief of Turkish General Staff General Ilker Basbug is expected to visit Moscow in July. The sides will probably be able to finalize all the details, and national defense ministers may sign protocols on establishing the new defense organization as early as this August.
The Turkish Navy's surface fleet primarily comprises patrol ships and speed boats, while Russia plans to strengthen its Black Sea Fleet with more powerful ships, including a Mistral-class amphibious assault ship. However, Turkey has an edge in advanced submarines.
The main intrigue is that Turkey is a NATO member, whereas Russia and Ukraine are not. Although Brussels has not yet reacted to the new planned alliance, Turkish analysts say NATO's reaction will be restrained because Ukraine and Russia have long been involved in joint exercises with NATO and are considered promising partners by the alliance.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen recently said Russia's NATO-membership prospects were not as far-fetched as some skeptics believed.
Russia's motives for creating a new military organization in the Black Sea region remain unclear. Analysts say closer partnership with Ankara will enable the Russian Black Sea Fleet to more actively navigate the Mediterranean Sea. In the next few years, the Black Sea Fleet will receive several new warships, due to be placed on combat duty in the Black and Mediterranean seas.
Expanded Russian-Turkish partnership will moderate the claims of neighboring Romania and Bulgaria to oil-bearing sectors of the Black Sea shelf.
Moreover, Russia will receive an additional opportunity to stipulate more reservations regarding the presence of U.S. warships, now frequenting Georgia, in the Black Sea.
Skeptics believe that Russia would have to act as a regional policeman together with Turkey if such an alliance is established.