I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 9511 
To provide for security in the Black Sea region, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 13, 2022 
Mr. KEATING (for himself, Mr. TURNER, Mr. SIRES, Mr. SWALWELL, and Mr. 
CARSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Foreign Affairs 
A BILL 
To provide for security in the Black Sea region, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Black Sea Security 
Act of 2022’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) The Black Sea region is of critical impor-
tance to the national security of six nations: 
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Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, and 
Turkey. 
(2) The Black Sea region has been a zone of in-
creasing tension and conflict on the eastern border 
of the European Union and the North Atlantic Trea-
ty Organization (NATO) following President Vladi-
mir Putin’s 2014 and 2022 invasions of Ukraine 
and 2008 invasion of Georgia, which still has terri-
tories illegally occupied by the Russian Federation. 
(3) Since the illegal attempted annexation of 
Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014, the Russian Fed-
eration has enhanced the Black Sea Fleet to in-
crease its presence in the region, enhanced its air 
and coastal defenses, disregarded international law 
regarding freedom of navigation to interrupt in reg-
ular shipping routes, and threatened freedom of 
navigation exercises in the Black Sea. 
(4) Since its military interventions in the Black 
Sea region starting in 2008, the Russian Federation 
has undertaken persistent hybrid measures to fur-
ther destabilize the region through malign influence 
campaigns. 
(5) Since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine by the 
Russian Federation, the unity among Black Sea 
countries has strengthened, particularly among 
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NATO member countries Romania, Bulgaria, and 
Turkey. 
(6) The Russian Federation is leveraging its il-
legal claim over Black Sea waters and the territories 
of Black Sea region states to execute military exer-
cises to threaten the territorial sovereignty of 
Ukraine and kill innocent civilians. 
(7) Russia has a long history of using its posi-
tion in the Black Sea and Crimea to threaten NATO 
allies, including the HMS Defender incident of June 
2021, when a British ship was harassed by Russian 
ships while undertaking a freedom of navigation pa-
trol in waters near the Crimean Peninsula. 
(8) While NATO has conducted routine exer-
cises in the region, the United States presence in the 
Black Sea has decreased since Russia’s annexation 
of Crimea due to competing security priorities 
among allies, a lack of available ships and resources, 
and a lack of a clearly defined regional strategy. 
(9) While, in February 2022, Turkey blocked 
the entry of Russian warships into the Black Sea 
pursuant to the Convention regarding the Regime of 
the Straits, signed at Montreux, Switzerland July 
20, 1936 (commonly known as the ‘‘Montreux Con-
vention’’), the Montreux Convention does not ac-
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count for the increase in size, weight, and capabili-
ties of modern warships, and Russia does not have 
the same limits on tonnage as non-littoral states. 
(10) Turkey has resisted attempts to change its 
interpretation of the Montreux Convention to avoid 
weakening their position in the region. 
(11) While NATO has long recognized the stra-
tegic importance of the Black Sea, Russia has 
sought to capitalize on at times divergent priorities 
among NATO members in the region to advance ex-
pansionist claims. 
(12) On February 24, 2022, Russian Federa-
tion 
President 
Vladimir 
Putin 
instigated 
an 
unprovoked, unjustified, and unlawful war violating 
the territorial integrity of the sovereign country of 
Ukraine and is using the Russian Federation’s mili-
tary presence on the Black Sea to kill innocent 
Ukrainian civilians. 
(13) The Russian Federation’s unprovoked war 
on Ukraine has underscored the importance of the 
Black Sea region to United States national security 
interests. 
(14) The Russian Federation’s unprovoked war 
has caused a food security crisis as 20,000,000– 
30,000,000 tons of Ukrainian grain remain unable 
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to leave Ukraine in an efficient and secure manner. 
The war has also impeded Ukraine’s ability to 
produce and transport next year’s harvest. 
(15) The Russian Federation’s actions in and 
around the Black Sea have also disrupted secure, re-
liable access to energy resources throughout Europe. 
Notably, Gazprom suspended natural gas supplies to 
Poland and Bulgaria on April 27, 2022, after the 
two countries refused to abide by a March 31, 2022, 
Russian decree that all payments be made in rubles, 
in violation of the terms of their contracts with 
Gazprom. 
(16) The People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s 
coercive economic policies also threaten the economic 
stability of the Black Sea region. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON BLACK SEA SECURITY. 
(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that— 
(1) it is in the interest of the United States to 
prevent the spread of further armed conflict in Eu-
rope by recognizing the Black Sea region as an 
arena of Russian aggression; 
(2) the littoral members of the Black Sea are 
critical in countering aggression by the Government 
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of the Russian Federation and maintaining the col-
lective security of the NATO alliance; 
(3) the repeated, illegal, unprovoked, and vio-
lent attempts of the Russian Federation to expand 
its territory and control access to the Mediterranean 
through the Black Sea constitutes a threat to the 
national security of the United States and the 
NATO alliance; 
(4) the United States condemns attempts by 
the Russian Federation to change or alter bound-
aries in the Black Sea region by any means contrary 
to international law; 
(5) the United States and its allies should 
robustly counter Russia’s illegal territorial claims on 
the Crimean Peninsula, along Ukraine’s territorial 
waters in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, in the 
Black Sea’s international waters, and in the terri-
tories it is illegally occupying in Ukraine; 
(6) the United States should continue to work 
within NATO and with NATO allies to develop a 
long-term strategy to enhance security, establish a 
permanent, sustainable presence in the eastern 
flank, and bolster the democratic resilience of its al-
lies and partners in the region; 
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