At Turkey’s request, Russia cancelled an attempt to bring four of its warships into the Black Sea through Turkish seas, according to Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who added that the decision was made before Ankara closed the straits over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Turkey, a NATO ally, shares a Black Sea border with both Ukraine and Russia and enjoys strong relations with both. Ankara announced on Monday that it had closed the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits in accordance with a 1936 deal, allowing it to prevent some Russian boats from passing through. Vessels returning to their bases are exempt from the agreement.
Cavusoglu told Haberturk late Tuesday that Turkey had asked Russia not to send ships through before declaring Moscow’s incursion a “war” on Sunday, giving it the legal authority to halt movements under the Montreux Convention.
“Russia has stated that four of its ships, three of which are not registered to Black Sea bases, will pass the straits on February 27-28,” Cavusoglu added. “We told Russia not to deploy these ships, and they claimed they wouldn’t cross the straits.”
“No one should be aggrieved by this because the Montreux Convention is in effect today, yesterday, and tomorrow,” he stated.
According to Reuters, at least four Russian ships – two destroyers, a frigate, and an intelligence craft – are waiting for Turkey to decide whether or not to cross the Mediterranean. A frigate and a destroyer, respectively, had requested to travel this week.
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