On Thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan expressed concern over escalating military actions by Russia and Ukraine, which he said are jeopardizing maritime traffic in the Black Sea as winter approaches, according to reports.
Turkey, a NATO member that has maintained positive relations with both Moscow and Kyiv, has repeatedly urged both sides to cease hostilities in the Black Sea.
Earlier this week, the Turkish vessel Royad Mammadov, loaded with grain, was struck by a drone in the Black Sea near the Pescăruș platform operated by OMV Petrom.
Ankara is awaiting replies to a proposal it submitted to Russia and Ukraine aimed at halting attacks and ensuring safe grain transportation from the region.
Escalating Attacks Pose Serious Threat to Maritime Safety
During a joint press conference with her Hungarian counterpart in Ankara on Thursday, Fidan warned that these attacks pose a significant threat to regional security and are worsening.
“Currently, both sides are engaged in extensive attacks to establish military superiority over one another before winter, severely impacting maritime safety in the Black Sea,” Hakan Fidan stated.
He added, “As countries in the region and the international community, we must not allow the Black Sea to become a new front in this conflict. Unfortunately, as you can see, the effects of the war are increasingly felt in the Black Sea region.”
In July 2022, Turkey and the United Nations facilitated the so-called Black Sea Grain Initiative to safely enable the export of Ukrainian grain; however, Russia withdrew from the agreement the following year, citing serious obstacles to its food and fertilizer exports.
Since this summer, Ukraine has intensified its attacks on vessels and infrastructure supporting Russian oil and grain exports, while Russia has ramped up missile and drone strikes on key Ukrainian grain export centers such as Odesa, Cernomorsk, and Pivdennîi.
In a meeting last September, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, that the attacks by both Russia and Ukraine on commercial vessels in the Black Sea are unacceptable and that measures must be taken to stop them.
