Russia has not received any formalized proposal from Türkiye for a moratorium on military action in the Black Sea, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said to reporters while answering a media question in connection with the statement by Türkiye’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan on the proposal to Russia and Ukraine to enact a moratorium on military actions in the Black Sea.
According to Zakharova, Türkiye’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan recently told the press that Turkish proposals for a moratorium on military action in the Black Sea have been passed to both the Russian and Ukrainian sides.
However, she said, Russia has not received yet a formal submission from Türkiye setting out specific terms for this initiative.
Zakharova has said Russia sees no point in returning to the 2022-2023 Black Sea Grain Initiative.
If the reference is to a unilateral scheme modeled on the 2022-2023 arrangement known as the “Black Sea Initiative,” under which Moscow suspended what it described as its response measures to protect Russian port infrastructure and energy facilities, Zakharova said returning to that format would be “ill-advised.”
“If this framework is unilateral, as in 2022 and 2023, better known as the so-called Black Sea initiative, in line with which Moscow suspended military actions in the Black Sea – or, to be more exact, retaliatory measures to defend Russia’s port infrastructure and energy assets – then reviving this framework would be ill-advised. This agreement was contingent on the other side fulfilling its part of the deal, which never happened,” Zakharova said in a comment to the press.
She said the condition for that earlier arrangement was equivalent reciprocal steps from the other side, which did not follow.
“You will recall that we accepted the moratorium in exchange for ensuring that Russia’s agricultural products could access the global market,” she noted. “However, the West acted in bad faith by using the humanitarian corridor we created to carry out terrorist attacks against Russian civilian and military sites, while Russian agricultural products continued to face sanctions. Ultimately, this led to the termination of the Black Sea initiative.”
Zakharova said Ukrainian armed forces’ drones carry out regular attacks in the Black Sea against civilian vessels of coastal states several times a month.
“We view these attacks as a deliberate effort to destabilise civilian navigation in the Black Sea region, escalating tension and prolonging the conflict,” the Russian official noted. “Neighbouring countries in the region have openly adopted a laissez-faire policy in this regard. At the same time, we see nothing that could improve the situation, nor any reason to use half-measures that do nothing but offer the Kiev regime a temporary respite.”
Russia has observed an increase in recent international calls for a ceasefire and settlement of the Ukraine situation based on the well-known half-measures, according to Zakharova, adding that Russia’s position on these calls and the problem as a whole “has not changed.”
She stated that a sustainable, lasting settlement of the conflict is possible only if its “root causes” are eliminated, primarily the security threats from NATO’s expansion to the east and attempts to draw Kiev into NATO.
Further attacks against vessels by both belligerents ‘highly likely:’ Ambrey
Security specialist in maritime Ambrey said Russia’s rejection of a proposed Black Sea moratorium removes a potential mechanism for reducing attacks against civilian shipping and maritime infrastructure.
Ambrey assesses it is a realistic possibility that Ukraine will maintain or increase pressure against Russian maritime and port infrastructure to raise the cost of Russia’s refusal and strengthen its negotiating position.
“Russia’s rejection of the proposed Black Sea moratorium is a detrimental development for the maritime security environment and removes a potential mechanism for reducing attacks against civilian shipping and maritime infrastructure.”
According to Ambrey, further attacks against merchant shipping and maritime infrastructure remain highly likely, with the wider Novorossiysk port complex particularly exposed, while war risk premiums for Black Sea calls are likely to remain elevated.
Ambrey also assessed that the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) Terminal remains comparatively less exposed following a reported understanding between Kyiv and Washington in early August 2026, under which Ukraine agreed to refrain from striking non-Russian, non-sanctioned tankers and CPC infrastructure. However, Ambrey said, “this should not be interpreted as a security guarantee.”
Ambrey said the Black Sea maritime security environment is unlikely to improve materially in the near-term.
Further attacks against merchant vessels by both belligerents are “highly likely.”
