title: AZOV AND BLACK SEA REGION: NEW POLITICAL AND LEGAL REALITIES
abstract: The Black Sea is a unique maritime region of great strategic importance not only for regional states, but also for non-regional players &ndash; especially for the NATO countries. For the Russian Federation it is the maritime area of its Black Sea Fleet location, the exit of which into the Mediterranean Sea and further to the Atlantic Ocean lies through the Black Sea straits of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. For NATO members which are constantly strengthening their naval presence here, it is n
journal: World Economy and International Relations