Ukraine and the Russian Federation held negotiations on shipping in the Black Sea
16.04.2024 - 11:07
Over the past two months, Ukraine and Russia together with Turkey have been negotiating an agreement on the safety of shipping in the Black Sea.
The agreement between Kyiv and Moscow was ready and was to be announced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on March 30, Reuters writes.
“Ukraine suddenly pulled out at the last minute, and the deal was broken,” one of the sources said.
The draft agreement provided that Kyiv and Moscow would provide security guarantees to merchant ships in the Black Sea, pledging not to strike, seize or search them if they were either empty or declared non-military cargo.
Read also: Most of Ukrainian exports go by sea.
“These guarantees do not apply to warships, civilian vessels transporting military goods (with the exception of sea transportation agreed by the Parties within the framework of international missions),” the media noted.
As previously reported by USM, 1,140 vessels exported 33.8 million tons of cargo during the 7 months of operation of the Ukrainian maritime corridor.
