Turkey discusses Black Sea safety with NATO after attacks on Russian ships

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ANKARA, Dec 3 (Reuters) – Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte discussed Black Sea safety on Wednesday, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said, after Ankara expressed alarm at attacks on Russia-linked tankers, some claimed by Ukraine.

Ankara, a NATO member that has kept warm relations with both sides in the Russian war in Ukraine, has condemned attacks on vessels with links to Moscow that took place inside Turkey’s exclusive economic zone off its coast in the Black Sea.

The attacks have sent Black Sea shipping insurance rates higher and prompted one Turkish company, Besiktas Shipping, to halt Russia-related operations over security concerns.

Ukraine, which is targeting Russia’s oil exports as Moscow bombards its power grid, has taken responsibility for an attack by seaborne drones on two empty tankers heading towards a Russian port last week.

UKRAINE DENIES LINK TO TANKER INCIDENT

Kyiv denied any link to another incident on Tuesday in which a Russian-flagged tanker loaded with sunflower oil said it had come under drone attack off the Turkish coast. Beyond the Black Sea region, a Besiktas Shipping tanker that also did business with Russia was damaged near Senegal by external impacts. No one claimed responsibility.

Fidan and Rutte, on the sidelines of a NATO meeting in Brussels, discussed issues related to Black Sea security and the negotiations to end the nearly four-year war, the Turkish Foreign Ministry source said, giving no further details.

Turkey has called the attacks on shipping unacceptable and warned “all parties” to halt them. A Turkish official said this specifically includes the Ukrainian authorities.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has responded by threatening to sever Ukraine’s access to the sea, and said Moscow will intensify strikes on Ukrainian facilities and vessels and move against tankers of countries that help Ukraine.

FIDAN, COUNTERPARTS DISCUSS SECURITY IN BLACK SEA, TRADE

The Turkish Foreign Ministry source said Fidan also met with his Romanian and Bulgarian counterparts in Brussels to discuss navigational safety in the Black Sea.

The trio stressed the importance of free trade flows, securing critical infrastructure and ensuring safe sea routes, the source said.

“The need to adhere to navigational safety in the Black Sea and adherence to international legal rules… was emphasised,” the person said after the meeting between the Black Sea littoral states.

Targeting merchant ships in Turkey’s exclusive economic zone marks “a dangerous escalation of the war in Ukraine,” Ayhan Zeytinoglu, chair of Turkey’s Economic Development Foundation, said at a forum in Istanbul on Wednesday.

Separately, President Tayyip Erdogan told French President Emmanuel Macron in a call that Turkey was trying to revive Ukraine-Russia ceasefire talks in Istanbul, according to a readout from his office.

(Reporting by Tuvan GumrukcuAdditional reporting by Jonathan SpicerEditing by Peter Graff and Bernadette Baum)