Erdoğan–Zelensky at the UN: Attacks on Merchant Ships in the Black Sea Are “Inexplicable”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that attacks by Russia and Ukraine on merchant ships in the Black Sea are “inexplicable” and that steps must be taken to stop them, according to a Turkish presidency statement on Thursday.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York. Turkey, a NATO member, has maintained friendly ties with both Moscow and Kyiv since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and has repeatedly called for an end to attacks in the Black Sea.

“Turkey is ready to do everything it can so that the Ukraine–Russia war ends with lasting peace; we will continue efforts to revive direct negotiations,” Erdoğan said. According to the presidency statement, “our president said a step must be taken for navigational security in the Black Sea, that attacks on merchant ships are inexplicable, and that we expect the parties to act responsibly.”

Ankara says it has sent proposals to both Ukraine and Russia to stop the attacks — some of which hit Turkish-owned ships and killed its citizens — and is awaiting a response. Turkish authorities stress that a solution must be found for grain shipments to be carried out safely.

Earlier the same day, Zelensky told leaders at the Crimea Platform summit that Kyiv is ready for a naval ceasefire in the Black Sea, based on proposals from Egypt, India and Turkey.

Global wheat prices have risen sharply, while major importers in Asia, the Middle East and Africa are struggling to secure supplies. Against this backdrop, attention returns to the Black Sea Grain Initiative, signed in July 2022 with the mediation of Turkey and the UN, which allowed the safe export of Ukrainian grain — an agreement from which Russia withdrew the following year.

Source: Reuters