NATO pledges protection of Black, Baltic seas infrastructure against potential Russian attacks

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said that the Alliance will defend the underwater infrastructure of the Black and Baltic Seas from potential Russian attacks as the organisation considers them “NATO areas."

“When it comes to the Baltic region, but this is also true for the Black Sea and for other NATO areas, there is the constant threat of attacks on our critical undersea infrastructure,” Rutte said at the NATO headquarters in Brussels in response to a question about the growing tensions surrounding tankers carrying Russian oil, against which the EU and alliance countries are imposing sanctions, Caliber.Az reports.

He threatened a “devastating” response in the event of “an attack on NATO areas.”

Rutte also confirmed that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will not take part in the meeting of the so-called Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Brussels.

“Pete Hegseth will participate in meetings in Brussels tomorrow (Thursday); this will be his second visit to Brussels. But U.S. representatives will take part in the meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group. The U.S. is fully committed to NATO and the joint efforts on Ukraine—there is no reason to doubt that,” Rutte said at a press conference.

“These meetings take place most of the times in Europe, so it will not always be possible for US officials to participate in every meeting,” the NATO chief added.

Rutte declined to comment on reports regarding the transfer of NATO intelligence to Kyiv that may have been used to carry out drone strikes on airfields in Russia.

The secretary general refused to answer whether these strikes had an impact on Ukraine’s negotiating position or on Western perceptions of the capabilities of the Ukrainian army.

“I think there is good reason for me not to comment on everything happening at the battlefields [in  Ukraine],” Rutte said.

By Khagan Isayev