The United States will provide Ukraine with two Island-class patrol boats to help counter growing tensions with Russia in the Black Sea region, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Valeriy Chaly, told journalists on Aug. 21 in Kyiv.

He said the patrol boats, which are used by the U.S. Coast Guard, will boost Ukraine’s capacity in the Black Sea, a region at the brink of a new conflict since Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Since the opening of the Kerch bridge connecting the Ukrainian peninsula to Russia, the Russian coast guard have been blocking Ukrainian trade ships in the Azov sea.