MOSCOW, August 14. /TASS/. Russia has not received a formal request from Turkey for a moratorium on military operations in the Black Sea through official channels, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted.
"We traditionally pay close attention to all peace initiatives coming from our foreign partners, especially from Turkey, which is an important regional player and our neighbor on the Black Sea," the diplomat said. "Recently, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated in a media interview that Turkey had conveyed its proposals to the Russian and Ukrainian sides on the introduction of a moratorium on military operations in the Black Sea. However, the Russian side has not received a formal Turkish request through official channels that specifies the terms of this initiative," Zakharova pointed out.
"If we are talking about a unilateral strategy similar to the one from 2022-2023, better known as the Black Sea Initiative, under which Moscow suspended hostilities in the Black Sea - or, more precisely, retaliatory measures to protect Russian port infrastructure and energy facilities - then returning to this option is not advisable," the spokeswoman noted. "The agreement depended on reciprocal measures from the other side, which were never implemented," she recalled.
