'Coalition of willing' meeting on security in Black Sea is technical; countries to present their developments – MFA

Spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Heorhiy Tykhy revealed the details of the meeting of the "Coalition of the willing" on security in the Black Sea, which is taking place at the level of technical teams.

"For some reason, the Turkish media reported that these would be some kind of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. From the very beginning, we at the Foreign Ministry knew that there would be no Ukrainian-Russian negotiations in Ankara at the level of the Navy or other technical teams. Instead, we knew that a meeting of representatives of the Navy of the 'Coalition of the willing' countries was indeed being prepared for these dates in Ankara to discuss the maritime component of the future possible contingent of this partnership within the framework of the coalition of the willing, which could be in Ukraine," he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Wednesday, answering questions from Interfax-Ukraine.

The spokesman said it is important for Ukraine that discussions on ensuring Ukraine's long-term security include not only a ground contingent, but also the protection of the sky and sea. And it is the maritime component that is being discussed in Ankara these days. This is a technical meeting.

"That is, this is a meeting, let's say, of experts, people who are well-versed in the issue from these different countries of the 'Coalition of the willing,' who will present their developments, how this presence of this maritime component in the Black Sea could look like. And then this will be presented at the political level, where states and leaders will be able to make decisions regarding this maritime component," Tykhy said.

According to him, this meeting should be "considered in the context of work on long-term security guarantees."