MOSCOW, July 25. /TASS/. Under the guise of ensuring security in the Black Sea, NATO countries have inundated it with weapons, which threatens Russia and other countries in the region, Kremlin Aide Nikolay Patrushev said.
"Under the guise of ensuring security in the Black Sea, the alliance inundated it with weapons that pose a threat to Russia and the countries of the region," he said in an interview with the Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper.
"Indiscriminate mining of coastal waters by the Western-controlled Ukrainian Navy leads to uncontrolled drifting of sea mines, which is increasingly threatening civilian vessels," the official said. "Unpredictable danger to navigation and coastal infrastructure is also caused by sea drones that go off course due to failures of GPS navigation."
Patrushev also said that by declaring at the latest NATO summit a course toward maintaining freedom of navigation in the Black Sea, "the fervently anti-Russian bloc actually demonstrated its ambitious plans to build up its military presence in this region and intensify confrontation."
Also, the US plans to set up logistics centers in Black Sea countries to speed up arms deliveries to Ukraine, as well as to deploy advanced long-range weapons, the Kremlin aide said.