Turkey urges Black Sea shipping strike moratorium

Turkey has urged Ukraine and Russia to create a mechanism for a moratorium on attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in an interview with Anadolu.

“The conflict has spread to the entire Black Sea,” Fidan said, according to Ekonomichna Pravda. “At first, ports and warships were attacked. Now all commercial vessels are coming under indiscriminate strikes. A mechanism must be created that would make it possible to declare a moratorium.”

Fidan said Turkey had called on both sides to establish such a mechanism. “The Ukrainians already had a relevant proposal. We passed it to our Russian colleagues and are waiting for a response,” he said.

Commenting on prospects for ending the war, Fidan said the sides were not inclined to make concessions while they still had the capacity to continue fighting. He said he believed that, after mutual exhaustion, they would conclude that they needed to sit down for talks and make peace.

Turkey this week called on Russia and Ukraine to take measures to ensure shipping safety in the Black Sea after a drone attack near the Russian port of Novorossiysk damaged a Turkish-owned vessel and seriously wounded three crew members. The report also noted that overnight on May 29, Russia carried out a targeted strike on a Turkish vessel sailing from a port in Ukraine’s Odesa region to Turkey, causing a fire.