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It is recognised de jure to be part of Ukraine, but part of Russia de facto.

And by "improve" the balance of power in the Black Sea I'm sure you mean move it in US's favour?

I mean in favour of the other countries with Black Sea coastline, including Georgia. And yes in the US' favour, because US companies like Exxon would benefit from oil extraction rights in the Black Sea, which they are quite happy to grant in exchange for keeping Russia at bay.

Well in that case Russia should indeed just give up their access to Black Sea and let the US set up yet another sphere of influence! /s

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