Turkey has proposed that Russia and Ukraine establish a moratorium on attacks against ships in the Black Sea, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday, seeking to protect civilian maritime traffic from the expanding consequences of the war.
Fidan announced the initiative in an interview with Turkey’s state news agency Anadolu, saying Ankara had conveyed the proposal to both Kyiv and Moscow and was awaiting their responses. He called for “the setting up of a mechanism allowing a moratorium to be declared” on military actions in critical areas of the Black Sea.
“The conflict has spread across the whole Black Sea,” Fidan said. “To begin with, they targeted the ports and the military ships. Now, they are attacking all commercial shipping without distinction.” He noted that ships belonging to Turkey or flying the Turkish flag were among those targeted, adding that Ankara’s warnings about the spread of hostilities to civilian shipping had come true.
The proposal came days after a drone struck the Turkish cargo ship Nadezhda near the Russian port of Novorossiysk on August 3, injuring three crew members. Reuters reported that a second Turkish vessel, the Yasar, was also hit in the same area. Turkey subsequently suspended the issuance of transit permits to commercial vessels attempting to sail to Novorossiysk through the Black Sea.
Fidan acknowledged that neither Ukraine nor Russia had yet shown willingness to compromise. He attributed the impasse to the fact that both sides still possess the military capability to continue fighting. “A compromise or a ‘meeting halfway’ would make the mediators’ work in the conflict easier,” he said. “But when no one is willing to compromise, the war will continue until they are forced to make concessions.”
The Turkish minister proposed separately addressing maritime safety as a distinct issue from the broader conflict. He emphasized that the security of navigation and trade in the Black Sea was of “utmost importance” and that Turkey had discussed the matter with both the Russian and Ukrainian sides during recent visits to Moscow and Kyiv.
The initiative represents Turkey’s latest effort to carve out a mediation role in the war, building on its earlier brokering of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and its hosting of peace talks. However, the proposal faces significant obstacles, as both Ukraine and Russia have increasingly targeted commercial shipping and port infrastructure as part of their broader military strategies.
Sources: Straits Times, Ukrainian News, The Guardian
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