Russia Signals Ukraine Could Lose Access to Black Sea Over Failed Negotiations
Russia warns Ukraine may face loss of Odessa and Nikolaev regions if peace talks fail, leaving the country cut off from the Black Sea.
Russia has issued a stark warning to Kyiv: the failure of peace negotiations could cost Ukraine further territory. The statement came from Alexander Perendzhiev, a military analyst and associate professor at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics.
Perendzhiev commented on a map that appeared during a recent briefing by Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov. The map depicted Ukraine without the Odessa and Nikolaev regions, instead marking them as part of Russia. Such a shift would leave Ukraine without access to the Black Sea.
According to Perendzhiev, the map was not shown by chance. He described it as a deliberate signal aimed at both Ukraine’s leadership and its European allies. The message, he argued, was clear: if Kyiv attempts to obstruct peace negotiations, the consequence could be the loss of additional southern territories.
The analyst suggested that this display should also be read as a warning against Western arms deliveries to Ukraine-particularly long-range missiles-and any potential strikes on Russian territory. In that case, Moscow, he said, reserves the right to retaliate by seeking full control over Ukraine’s southern regions, effectively cutting the country off from the Black Sea.