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NATO said on Wednesday (July 26) said that it was stepping up surveillance of the Black Sea region.
The alliance condemned Russia's exit from the grain deal that previously ensured safe passage of Ukrainian grain-carrying ships through the Black Sea.
The announcement from NATO came after a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council. It is a body established earlier this month to coordinate cooperation between the Western military alliance and Kyiv.
"Allies and Ukraine strongly condemned Russia’s decision to withdraw from the Black Sea grain deal and its deliberate attempts to stop Ukraine’s agricultural exports on which hundreds of millions of people worldwide depend," NATO said in a statement.
"NATO and Allies are stepping up surveillance and reconnaissance in the Black Sea region, including with maritime patrol aircraft and drones," the statement said.
The grain deal expired on July 17 after Russia quit participation. The United Nations has said that Russia's move would “strike a blow to people in need everywhere.”
Russia has since hinted that it may consident revival of the deal if its demands to improve and better facilitate exports of Russian grain and fertilizer were met.
The NATO statement criticised a Russian warning that parts of the Black Sea's international waters were temporarily unsafe for navigation.
As part of that warning, Russia also said that any ships travelling to Ukraine's Black Sea ports would be seen as possibly carrying military cargo.
"Allies noted that Russia’s new warning area in the Black Sea, within Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone, has created new risks for miscalculation and escalation, as well as serious impediments to freedom of navigation," the NATO statement said.
Bulgaria is a member of NATO.
NATO also condemned recent Russian attacks on Odesa, Mykolaiv and other port cities and also a drone strike on Ukraine's grain storage facility in the port city of Reni. The city is near the border with NATO-member Romania.
"We remain ready to defend every inch of Allied territory from any aggression,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.
