News Desk
MOSCOW: Russia has said it has not received through official channels any formal proposal from Türkiye regarding a moratorium on military activities in the Black Sea, while cautioning that a return to an earlier arrangement would be inadvisable without reciprocal commitments.
Responding to a question about Türkiye’s initiative, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Moscow traditionally gives careful consideration to peace initiatives from foreign partners, particularly Türkiye, which she described as an important regional player and Russia’s neighbour on the Black Sea.
Zakharova was responding to recent remarks by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan that Ankara had conveyed proposals to both Russia and Ukraine on introducing a moratorium on military activities in the Black Sea.
She said the Russian side had not received an official document outlining the specific terms of the proposed initiative.
According to Zakharova, if the proposal refers to a unilateral arrangement similar to the 2022-2023 Black Sea Initiative, Moscow would not consider returning to that format advisable. She said the previous arrangement had been based on reciprocal measures that were not implemented by the other side.
Zakharova said Russia had agreed at the time to suspend certain military activities in the Black Sea in exchange for improved access for Russian agricultural products to global markets. However, she accused Western countries of failing to fulfil their commitments and said the humanitarian corridor was subsequently used for attacks against Russian civilian and military facilities.
She also maintained that Russian agricultural products continued to face sanctions, ultimately contributing to the termination of the Black Sea Initiative.
The Russian spokesperson further accused Ukraine of carrying out repeated drone attacks against civilian vessels in the Black Sea, describing them as part of a policy aimed at destabilising civilian shipping and prolonging the conflict.
Zakharova said Moscow currently saw no conditions for meaningful improvement in the situation and therefore opposed what she called temporary arrangements that could merely provide a short-term respite.
She reiterated Russia’s position that a sustainable settlement of the Ukraine conflict requires addressing what Moscow considers its root causes.
According to Zakharova, these include security concerns related to NATO’s eastward expansion and efforts to bring Ukraine into the alliance, as well as guarantees concerning the rights of Russian and Russian-speaking populations in territories under Kyiv’s control.
