Türkiye proposes Russia-Ukraine deal to end Black Sea shipping attacks

Türkiye has sent Russia and Ukraine a proposal aimed at ending attacks on civilian vessels in the Black Sea, a Turkish diplomat told AFP on September 17, Al Arabia reports.

The initiative follows a sharp increase in attacks in the Black Sea, with at least 25 Turkish-owned vessels hit since late June, according to industry figures.

“We have shared a text of a memorandum, a draft text, with the Russians and the Ukrainians to come up with a solution to those strikes taking place in the Black Sea,” the diplomat said.

He said the proposal was “inspired by” the 2022 grain corridor mechanism, a deal brokered by Türkiye and the United Nations that allowed Ukrainian grain to be exported through the Black Sea with safe passage.

Russia withdrew from the agreement a year later, after which Ukraine established an alternative shipping route along the coasts of Romania and Bulgaria.

The diplomat said the current route included a four- or five-mile section where Ukrainian vessels had to leave national territorial waters and travel through international waters, which he described as the risky part.

“So our offer is also inspired by this,” he said.

By Aghakazim Guliyev