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Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova commented on Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan's proposal to impose a moratorium on military activities between Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea.

Zakharova said Türkiye's peace initiatives were being “carefully considered” by Russia, noting that Türkiye is one of the important regional actors in the Black Sea.

Recalling Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan's statement that Türkiye had conveyed proposals to the Russian and Ukrainian sides regarding a moratorium on military activities in the Black Sea, Zakharova said: “The Russian side has not received through official channels an official Turkish proposal setting out the concrete terms of this initiative.”

Zakharova said that if the proposal referred to a unilateral arrangement similar to the Black Sea Initiative of 2022-2023, Russia did not consider it appropriate to return to that format.

Zakharova argued that the arrangement depended on reciprocal measures that were not implemented and said the agreement had been accepted in exchange for ensuring access for Russian agricultural products to global markets.

Zakharova claimed that the West had “not approached the agreement in good faith,” saying that the humanitarian corridor provided had been used for attacks on Russian civilian and military facilities and that Russian agricultural products continued to remain under sanctions.

Zakharova claimed that Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the Black Sea had carried out attacks on civilian vessels belonging to coastal states and said Russia viewed these attacks as part of a policy aimed at destabilizing civilian maritime transport in the Black Sea.

Zakharova said a sustainable and long-term resolution of the Ukraine crisis was possible only through “eliminating the root causes of the crisis.” The Russian spokesperson argued that this primarily required ending the security threats created by NATO's eastward expansion and efforts to bring Kyiv into the alliance.

Zakharova also said the rights of the Russian and Russian-speaking population living in areas controlled by the Kyiv authorities should be restored and guaranteed.