Turkish FM urges Black Sea restraint in Ukraine trip

KYIV: Turkiye’s foreign minister said Thursday that Ankara did not want to see the Ukraine war spread further into the Black Sea, during a visit to Kyiv to promote mediation efforts. Ukraine and Russia have repeatedly struck each other’s ships in the Black Sea — a key waterway for both countries’ exports — throughout the conflict since February 2022. “We do not want the war to spread to the Black Sea,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said at a news conference alongside his Ukrainian counterpart. “There is simply no explanation for a war in Europe to continue for five years in the 21st century.