Russian envoy to Turkey Aleksei Erkhov on Wednesday said that Moscow appreciates Ankara’s stance on abiding by the Montreux Convention on the Turkish Straits amid the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war.
Underlining that the convention is of immediate interest to Russia, Erkhov, speaking on Habertürk TV, indicated: "I have to say that Turkey’s stance of preserving and abiding by the Montreux Convention, which is a significant legal document, is met with appreciation."
He said that Russia is in constant contact with Turkish officials on the usage of the straits.
Turkey on Feb. 27 officially recognized Russia’s attacks on Ukraine as a "state of war" and said it was implementing an international treaty giving Ankara the power to limit warships’ passage through the strategic Dardanelles and Bosporus. Ankara had previously called the Russian invasion a "military operation."
"In case of a war in which Turkey is not a party, Turkey can shut down the straits for countries that are involved in war. Article 19 of the Montreux Convention is explicit," Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said recently speaking on broadcaster CNN Türk.
The 1936 Montreux Convention governs the free movement of commercial ships in peacetime through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles and grants Turkey the right to block warships in wartime if threatened. Ukraine has officially asked Turkey to close the Dardanelles strait – and thus access to the Black Sea – to Russian ships.
NATO member Turkey, which has strong ties with both Russia and Ukraine, did not immediately respond to this request.
But Çavuşoğlu said Turkey cannot prevent Russian and Ukrainian ships from accessing the Black Sea due to Article 19 of the convention that allows littoral states’ vessels to return to their home base.
Speaking on the ongoing conflict, Erkhov said that modern weapons that would be installed in Ukraine in the case it joins NATO is threatening its national security. He said Russia conveyed to the U.S. and NATO its concerns to ease tensions but that its suggestions were rejected.
The ambassador claimed that Ukraine started a war in the country’s east in 2014 on Russians and that Moscow launched an "operation" to demilitarize it.
Delegations from Russia and Ukraine are expected to hold talks in Belarus on Thursday, a second round of face-to-face discussions since the Russian invasion eight days ago.
Meanwhile, the U.N. refugee agency said 1 million people have fled Ukraine since Russian forces invaded last week. It marks the swiftest exodus of refugees this century. Also, the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) has condemned the invasion and called on Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine.
UNGA voted Wednesday to demand that Russia stop its offensive in Ukraine and withdraw all troops, with nations from world powers to tiny island states condemning Moscow. The vote was 141 to 5, with 35 abstentions.
Turkey has also stepped up diplomacy and urged for talks and a cease-fire to prevent further escalation that could destabilize the region.
Turkey has found itself in a balancing act between Russia and Ukraine given the friendly ties and Black Sea maritime boundaries it shares with both parties. NATO member Turkey also has good economic and political relations with both countries and Erdoğan earlier last week said Ankara did not want to alienate either state.
Turkey has offered to mediate the crisis and had earlier warned Russia not to invade Ukraine. Ankara has been closely following the developments and is in close contact with both Kyiv and Moscow. While forging cooperation on defense and energy, Turkey has opposed Moscow’s policies in Syria and Libya, as well as its annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. It has also sold sophisticated drones to Ukraine, angering Russia. Turkey also strongly opposed Russia’s recognition of Ukraine’s breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
While Turkey’s call for mediation and its offer to host a Minsk group meeting in Istanbul was welcomed by Ukraine, Russia held back from officially accepting the offer.