Türkiye steps up diplomacy to forge Black Sea agreement

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says Ankara has stepped up efforts to broker a Black Sea agreement, holding talks with both Ukraine and Russia and claiming to have received responses it is now trying to reconcile. He says a mutually acceptable approach can be reached if the parties bring political will and goodwill, without specifying who currently lacks either.

The diplomatic push comes against a backdrop of intensified Russian strikes on Ukrainian port infrastructure and civilian vessels, including attacks that killed people on the Golden Leo and, most recently, the cargo ship TEDY. Russia's Foreign Ministry has already said it sees no reason to revive the earlier Black Sea grain initiative or halt hostilities.

Fidan frames continued attacks on civilian vessels and threats to Turkish citizens as unacceptable, a description that has not yet altered the attack rate.

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