NATO is not letting Russia turn the Black Sea into a Russian lake.
One of the things I’ve told to my friends in the Black Sea was that if this A2/AD strategy is being effectively employed by our adversaries, why don’t you try it yourself? In fact, building a network of connected surveillance along the coastline is exactly what Romania and Bulgaria are doing.
This kind of NATO effort is what I want, as I noted when I posted about Romanian anti-ship missiles. American air power can supplement, of course.
But I don't want to waste too much effort on what is a secondary theater:
Let the Russians spread out their already inadequate land, sea, and air power. The Black Sea is an economy-of-force front. NATO needs to focus on the Baltic Sea and the Suwalki Gap--and don't forget Belarus, which is probably the most important territory in Europe today.
Our best defense of the Black Sea region involves making sure Ukraine is strong enough to fight Russia for the north shore of the sea. Heck, make sure Ukraine can bomb and mine Crimean bases and ports, as I mentioned in this post, would be a good idea. And trying to ease Turkey back into NATO's good graces seals off the Russians nicely.
Unless Turkey flips to Russia, the Russians can't really go anywhere and don't have the amphibious capabilities to really make a ground force threat there without major support from a land front.
