Turkey Hints at Pressure to Allow NATO Warships Passage into the Black Sea

The Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet 145th Rescue Ship Squad's Prut class rescue tug EPRON sails in the Bosphorus , on its way to the Black Sea, in Istanbul, Turkey, Feb. 17, 2022. (Reuters)

Turkey on Sunday accused Ukraine, without naming it, of trying to exert pressure on Ankara to make it abandon the Montreux Convention and allow NATO warships to enter the Black Sea.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said he doesn’t rule out that drifting mines appeared in the Black Sea with an intent to exert pressure on Ankara to make it allow the passage of NATO warships via the Bosphorus .