Türkiye announced on Saturday that it had sent Russia and Ukraine a proposal to end fighting in the Black Sea, stressing that the war spreading to the region was unacceptable amid a rise in attacks targeting commercial vessels and their impact on maritime security. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Ankara had submitted the offer to both Moscow and Kyiv, explaining that Türkiye’s priority was to remove grain from the region.
Moscow and Kyiv respond to Türkiye’s proposal
We put forward a proposal to both sides in this regard and received responses from them. We note that both have demands and positions that are difficult to reconcile
As part of efforts related to maritime security, Türkiye presented a draft agreement aimed at ending attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea, including vessels belonging to Türkiye. The Turkish move came as attacks on civilian vessels in the region continued.
Ankara seeks to keep the Black Sea out of the war
Fidan said on Tuesday that Ankara had made significant efforts since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war to keep the Black Sea out of the conflict. He said the escalation of the war was having a serious impact on the Black Sea basin, and that his country had until recently succeeded in limiting the spread of the fighting there, relying on the careful application of the Montreux Convention on the Straits and the implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
The Montreux Convention, signed in 1936, regulates the passage of warships belonging to states that do not border the Black Sea through the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits. The convention requires Türkiye to be notified of passage 15 days in advance and limits the duration of those vessels’ stay in the Black Sea to no more than 21 days.
Fidan warned that the rise in attacks on civilian vessels in recent months was causing serious damage to the safety of lives and property, as well as threatening navigation and the environment in the region. According to the Turkish Chamber of Shipping, around 25 vessels belonging to Turkish companies have been attacked since the Russian-Ukrainian war began in 2022. At the beginning of last August, Ankara asked Russia and Ukraine to suspend attacks on commercial vessels.
At the time, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that it was “impossible to supervise” such a measure.
