Earlier in April, NATO announced a decision to increase its naval presence and conduct military drills in the Black Sea.
Increased NATO activity in the Black Sea undermines regional stability and Moscow will act "accordingly," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister told journalists on Saturday.
Speaking on the sidelines of a Council on Foreign and Defence Policy meeting, Alexander Grushko said that Russia treats increased NATO activity "unambiguously negatively."
"We, of course, will take all necessary measures to neutralize threats connected to increased NATO activity in this region," he said. "We watch very carefully at how Alliance's plans to increase its presence in the region unfold and we will react accordingly."
He pointed out that the Russian Foreign Ministry believes that security in the Black Sea should be based on the cooperation of coastal countries.
"All required ingredients for this are present. It's Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and — in military sphere — Document on trust-building measures in the Black Sea," Grushko added.
The deputy minister expressed his hope that the Black Sea Naval Cooperation Task Group, also known as BLACKSEAFOR, will resume operations. The naval cooperation program includes six coastal nations: Bulgaria, Georgia, Russia, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine. The group's activities effectively ended following the 2014 Ukraine crisis and Russia suspended its participation after Turkish forces shot down a Russian military airplane in 2015.
Earlier in April, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that NATO "increased its naval presence in the Black Sea, with NATO's maritime groups taking part in exercises and also conducting several port visits" including recent junkets in Georgia and Ukraine. He called on Russia to "respect the international law" so as to "make the waters of the Black Sea more secure," according to a CaucasusWatch.de report.
Russia has repeatedly expressed its concern regarding increased an NATO military presence in Europe. The Kremlin has repeatedly underscored that Russia poses no threat to other nations, but will not ignore actions endangering its interests.