ARussian warship on Sunday fired warning shots at a cargo ship in the southwestern Black Sea as it made its way northwards, marking the first time Moscow has fired on merchant shipping beyond Ukraine since exiting a landmark grain deal last month.

Russia in July halted participation in the Black Sea grain deal that allowed Ukraine to export agricultural produce via the Black Sea and Moscow cautioned that it deemed all ships heading to Ukrainian waters to be potentially carrying weapons.

Russia said in a statement that its Vasily Bykov patrol ship had fired automatic weapons on the Palau-flagged Sukru Okan vessel after the ship’s captain failed to respond to a request to halt for an inspection.

Russia said the vessel was approaching the Ukrainian port of Izmail. Refinitiv shipping data showed the ship was currently near the coast of Bulgaria and heading towards the Romanian port of Sulina.

“To forcibly stop the vessel, warning fire was opened from automatic weapons,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The Russian military boarded the vessel with the help of a Ka-29 helicopter, the ministry said. “After the inspection group completed its work on board, the Sukru Okan continued on its way to the port of Izmail,” it noted.

A Turkish defense ministry official said he had heard an incident had taken place involving a ship heading for Romania and that Ankara was looking into it.

Black Sea at war?

Firing on a merchant vessel will ratchet up already acute concerns among shipowners, insurers and commodity traders about the potential dangers of getting ensnared in the Black Sea – the main route that both Ukraine and Russia use to get their agricultural produce to market.

Russia and Ukraine are two of the world’s top agricultural producers and major players in the wheat, barley, maize, rapeseed, rapeseed oil, sunflower seed and sunflower oil markets. Russia is also dominant in the fertilizer market.

Since Russia left the Black Sea grain deal, brokered by Türkiye and the United Nations in July 2022, both Moscow and Kyiv have issued warnings and carried out attacks that have sent jitters through global commodity, oil and shipping markets.

Russia has said it will treat any ships approaching Ukrainian ports as potential military vessels and their flag countries as combatants on the Ukrainian side. Russia also struck Ukrainian grain facilities on the Danube.

Ukraine responded with a similar threat to ships approaching Russian or Russian-held Ukrainian ports. Ukraine also attacked a Russian oil tanker and a warship at its Novorossiysk naval base next door to a major grain and oil port.

Ukraine and the West say Russia’s steps amount to a de-facto blockade of Ukrainian ports that threatens to cut off the flow of wheat and sunflower seeds from Ukraine to world markets.

Russia dismisses that interpretation and says the West failed to implement a parallel agreement easing rules for its own food and fertilizer exports.

Source: Daily Sabah

The post Russia Opens Fire on Ukraine-Bound Cargo Ship in Black Sea appeared first on Ankara Haftalik.

While the EU is promoting the ninth round of sanctions against Russia, the head of EU foreign policy recently expressed “concern” about the close relationship between Türkiye and Russia, and called on Türkiye to join the sanctions against Russia. This speech angered Türkiye’s President RecepTayyip Erdogan, who responded on the 15th that EU politicians have no right to interfere in Turkish Russian relations.

According to the West German Report of Germany on December 11, in a letter to the European Parliament, EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Borrell said that Türkiye’s refusal to join the EU’s sanctions against Russia is increasingly “worrying”. He also warned that the deepening of bilateral economic relations between Russia and Turkey is also a “worrying issue”.

Borrell urged Türkiye to comply with the sanctions imposed by the EU on Moscow and not provide Russia with a “temporary solution” to circumvent the sanctions.

But this statement made Türkiye’s President RecepTayyip Erdogan extremely dissatisfied. The Anadolu News Agency of Türkiye reported on the 15th that Erdogan lashed out at Borrell when answering questions from the media that day, stressing that he had no right to “dictate” the relationship between Turkey and Russia.

“I don’t think Borrelli can shout at me, and his level can only talk to the Foreign Minister, Mr. Chavushiolu.” Erdogan said, “In other words, Borrelli cannot define or adjust our relationship with Russia. He has neither the qualifications nor the ability to make such a decision. His remarks are offensive.”

Erdogan emphasized that the relationship between Türkiye and Russia cannot be evaluated only within the scope of sanctions. He criticized that even after Ankara also made many efforts to implement the Russia-Ukraine food agreement, Borrell told Türkiye: At present, 44% of Europe’s food comes from where? They come from the Black Sea. Who is the mediator? Turkiye. Do you thank us? No.”

Türkiye has always been neutral to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, unwilling to join the Western countries’ sanctions against Russia, and tries to “resolve the crisis” as a “mediator”. According to Reuters, Erdogan held phone conversations with leaders of Russia and Ukraine on the 11th to discuss issues such as further expanding the Black Sea food export agreement.

As Borrell tried to “woo” Türkiye, the EU approved the ninth round of sanctions against Russia at the winter summit that ended on the 15th. According to the process, the plan will be officially confirmed through a “written procedure” on the 16th local time and announced.

Euronews reported that the ninth round of sanctions may impose an asset freeze and travel ban on nearly 200 Russian individuals or entities, including government ministers, parliamentarians, local officials, political parties and armed forces. The EU also plans to impose more sanctions on Russia’s defense industry and banks, and impose stricter export controls on equipment such as chemicals, electronic products, and drone components.

Regarding the EU’s decision, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zaharova stated at a news conference on the 15th that no matter what new measures the EU takes, Russia will respond quickly, “Russia will respond to any unfriendly attacks.”.

Source : Baijahao

The post EU Officials Urged Türkiye to Join the Sanctions Against Russia, and Erdogan Hit Back: You Are Not Qualified to Talk About This appeared first on Ankara Haftalik.