Ukraine starts preparations for Sea Breeze-2018 int'l military drills

KIEV, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Ukrainian Defense Ministry on Monday started preparations for the Sea Breeze-2018 international military exercises due to be held in the Black Sea in southern Ukraine later this year.

The main preparatory conference for the drills, which are co-hosted by Ukraine and the United States, kicked off in Ukraine's southern Odessa city with the participation of representatives of 16 countries, the ministry said in a statement.

Apart from Ukraine and the United States, the four-day conference is attended by military officials from Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, Greece, Georgia, Denmark, Estonia, Canada, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Romania, Poland, Turkey and Sweden, the statement said.

According to the statement, this year's Sea Breeze drills will focus on the management of the naval, air and land forces directly from the sea.

However, the ministry did not give the exact date of this year's drills.

The Sea Breeze exercises, which started in 1997, are an annual military event involving the NATO and its partner countries, which are aimed at strengthening cooperation among allies to ensure stability in the Black Sea region.

Last year's maneuvers, which were held on July 10-23 in Ukraine's southern Odessa and Mykolaiv regions, involved more than 3,000 military personnel from 16 countries. Enditem