MOSCOW, September 9. /TASS/. The Russian side has informed its Turkish partners that Ukraine is endangering the safety of Ankara’s vessels in the Black Sea, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"Our [Turkish] partners were informed about Moscow’s fundamental approaches to settling the Ukrainian crisis through eliminating its root causes, as well as Russia’s assessments of the destructive actions of the Kiev regime in the Black Sea that threaten the safety of shipping, including for Turkey itself," the ministry noted following Russian-Turkish interministerial consultations in Moscow.

The sides also discussed the current situation in the South Caucasus and cooperation in Central Asia. "The unacceptability of introducing any outside initiatives that would create new dividing lines in Central Asia and the South Caucasus was noted. In this context, the sides emphasized their interest in continuing the work of the 3+3 Regional Cooperation Platform (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia + Russia, Iran, Turkey) as a promising tool for strengthening stability and security based on the principle of ‘regional responsibility,’" the Russian Foreign Ministry added.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Ukraine had asked Turkey to propose a moratorium on strikes against ships in the Black Sea, but this is impossible to monitor. According to the top Russian diplomat, this was already the case three years ago, when there was the Black Sea initiative, which UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres proposed to adopt, and Russia accepted it. He called a return to the Black Sea Grain Initiative "completely unacceptable and completely unrealistic," as "the Ukrainians constantly abused it," periodically transporting weapons on civilian vessels. In addition, Europe blocked the unimpeded access to global markets, which was promised to Russia under this initiative, which is why Russia "walked away from that arrangement," Lavrov concluded.