Georgia and Ukraine are two very important partners. Such a statement NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made during the joint press-conference with the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Kiril Petkov.

“We have two very important partners, we have Georgia and Ukraine, NATO partners. And this is important, because we see the tensions we see the challenges in the Black Sea region, especially with the conflict in Ukraine and the illegal annexation of Crimea. So of course, all of this makes the whole Black Sea region, a region of great strategic importance for a NATO.

And we also see this, more and more aggressive rhetoric from the Russian side. Putting forward … also stating red lines, and conveying a message which adds to the concern of Allies. So we, from the NATO side, are very closely monitoring what Russia does. We have increased our intelligence capabilities to follow closely the military build-up”, - said Jens Stoltenberg.