NATO ships in the Black Sea. Archival photoMOSCOW, May 22. The United States must convince Turkey to open the Black Sea to NATO ships in order to strengthen the alliance, writes The Hill columnist Seth Cropsey. After the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, Ankara blocked access to the Bosphorus and Dardanelles in accordance with the Montreux Convention.
NATO has fallen into a trap that will seriously weaken the alliance, writes NIThe journalist recommended that US President Joe Biden act quickly: recognize the interests of Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan and properly «cheat» him. To reach a compromise, Cropsey suggested that Washington sell Ankara the Western military technology it needs. This will strengthen NATO and convince Turkey to lift its veto on Finland and Sweden joining it, the author predicts. «The states need not only to bribe the Asia Minor state, but also ask it to enter the Black Sea in return. This would be a step towards escalation and undermining Erdogan's diplomatic role in Russian-Ukrainian relations, but thanks to this decision, the bloc will receive a huge strategic advantage,» the columnist is sure. Sweden and Finland started talking about the possibility of joining the North Atlantic Alliance against the backdrop of a Russian special operation in Ukraine, but Ankara blocked the process of considering the application. Erdogan said he vetoed the veto because of the position of Stockholm and Helsinki regarding the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Turkey. According to Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, settling the differences could take several weeks. The United States predicted Biden's defeat in Ukraine
