Türkiye’s proposal to suspend military activities between Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea has not taken concrete form because Russia has received no official request. Maria Zakharova said the official Turkish request detailing the initiative’s terms had not been submitted to the Russian side.
Moscow does not want to return to the Black Sea Initiative
Zakharova said Russia did not consider it appropriate to reinstate the Black Sea Initiative, which temporarily suspended military activities. She said the parties would need to take reciprocal steps for the agreement to be implemented.
Zakharova said the suspension of military activities during the initiative’s implementation had been accepted in exchange for ensuring access for Russian agricultural products to global markets. She argued that the approaches of Western countries, which she described as lacking good faith, had played a role in the arrangement’s termination. Zakharova also said the corridor had been used in attacks against Russia and that sanctions on Russian agricultural products remained in place.
Accusation concerning civilian maritime transport
Zakharova alleged that Ukrainian military drones regularly attacked civilian vessels belonging to countries bordering the Black Sea. She described these actions as a deliberate policy aimed at destabilizing civilian maritime transport in the Black Sea.
Zakharova said they had not set any preconditions for improving the situation. She added that there was no justification for limited measures that, in her view, would only provide the Ukrainian authorities with a temporary respite.
Call to address the root causes for a solution
Zakharova said a solution to the Ukraine crisis would be possible only by eliminating its root causes.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had also said that Türkiye supported stability in the Black Sea and that an agreement was needed to prevent vessels from becoming targets of attacks in the region.
