Russia and Ukraine negotiated for two months with Turkey on a deal to ensure the safety of shipping in the Black Sea and reached agreement on a text that was to be announced by Ankara but Kyiv suddenly pulled out, four people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The negotiations were mediated by Turkey after nudging by the United Nations, according to the sources who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of such talks.
A deal was reached in March "to ensure the safety of merchant shipping in the Black Sea", and though Ukraine did not want to sign it formally, Kyiv gave its assent for Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to announce it on March 30, the day before critical regional elections, the sources said.
"At the very last minute, Ukraine suddenly pulled out and the deal was scuttled," said one of the sources.
Three other people confirmed that version of events. Russia, Ukraine and Turkey declined to comment.
It was not immediately clear why Ukraine pulled out. The people who spoke to Reuters said they did not know what had prompted Kyiv's decision.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in February that without new U.S. military aid, Ukraine would not be able to defend a Black Sea shipping corridor hugging its western Black Sea coast near Romania and Bulgaria.
The talks on the shipping deal, which have not been reported before, offer a glimpse of the quiet diplomacy going on behind closed doors on ways to bring the two warring sides to negotiation, if only, at first, about merchant shipping.
When asked for a comment on the Reuters reporting, United Nations Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said: "We still hope that freedom of navigation in the Black Sea will prevail."
Turkey and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have been trying to months to get merchant shipping sailing more freely though the Black Sea, which in some areas has been turned into a naval war zone since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.