The time has come to turn the Black Sea into what the Baltic Sea has become - the NATO Sea, at the upcoming Alliance summit in Vilnius it is necessary to take decisive steps towards Ukraine's membership in the North Atlantic Alliance, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

“It's time to turn the Black Sea into what the Baltic Sea has become. The NATO Sea. This war proved that the security of the region is indivisible. A threat to one is a threat to all,” Kuleba said at the First Black Sea Security Conference of the International Crimea Platform in Bucharest.

He stressed that it has now become obvious to the world that fear is not a strategy, and it is necessary to develop a comprehensive security network for all countries in the entire region.

Kuleba said that Russia has always had a strategy and acted every time the West doubted.

“When fear-driven caution closed the doors of NATO to Ukraine and Georgia in 2008, Russia quickly responded by attacking both countries. Russia was becoming a maniac, but some leaders decided then that the best strategy was to keep the maniac happy. Which includes leaving his potential victims unarmed,” the Foreign Minister said.

He also noted that the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius is “the right time to correct the mistakes of the past and take decisive steps towards Ukraine's membership in NATO.”

“To show that the door is not only open, but there is a clear plan for when and how Ukraine will enter it,” Kuleba said.

The minister also added that it makes sense for Ukraine to become part of the European Defense Initiative, and he has already raised this issue in a conversation with head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell recently.