Turkey's communications directorate said the two presidents spoke on Wednesday after attacks on Turkish-owned ships. Erdogan also offered to help start direct Russia-Ukraine contacts.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone with President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday and said efforts to keep navigation safe in the Black Sea were important, Turkey's Presidential Directorate of Communications said.
Erdogan also said Turkey was ready to help start direct contacts between Russia and Ukraine. CGTN, citing the same directorate statement via Xinhua, reported that he underlined the need to safeguard shipping after recent security incidents.
Turkiye Today said the call followed attacks on Turkish-owned ships. On Monday the Turkish-owned Royad Mammadov, carrying Ukrainian wheat to Italy, caught fire and sank off Romania; Romanian media reported a drone strike. The paper said strikes on two Turkish-owned cargo ships were the first of that kind in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone and came a day after another Turkish-owned ship sank off Romania, killing two crew members.
Maritime risk firm Ambrey said last month that war-related objects found in the Black Sea, concentrated in Romanian, Bulgarian and Turkish waters, had more than doubled in six months. Erdogan also congratulated Putin on his birthday and on his party's result in State Duma elections, Turkiye Today reported.
The call is a diplomatic exchange. No new Black Sea shipping agreement was announced.
People Sentiments Negative
- Erdogan said Black Sea navigation safety was important and that Turkey was ready to help start direct talks.