Turkey says Russia cancelled Black Sea passage bid upon its request

Russia cancelled a bid to send four of its warships through Turkish waters into the Black Sea at Turkey's request, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, adding the decision was made before Ankara closed the straits over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Turkey borders Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea and has good ties with both. On Monday, Ankara said it had closed its Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits under a 1936 pact, allowing it to curb some Russian vessels from crossing. 

The pact exempts vessels returning to their bases.

Cavusoglu told broadcaster Haberturk late on Tuesday that Turkey had asked Russia not to send its ships through, before it labelled Moscow's invasion a "war" on Sunday, legally allowing it to curb passages under the Montreux Convention. 

"Russia has said four of its ships would cross the straits on Feb 27-28, three of which are not registered to bases in the Black Sea," Cavusoglu said. "We told Russia not to send these ships and Russia said the vessels would not cross the straits.

"Nobody should be offended by this, because the Montreux Convention is valid today, yesterday and tomorrow, so we will implement it," he said.