Erdogan asks Putin for limited shipping ceasefire. Hours later Russia hits three Turkish vessels in Ukraine ports

Russia on December 12 struck three Turkish-owned vessels in two Ukrainian ports just hours after Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Russian leader Vladimir Putin in a face-to-face meeting that a limited ceasefire in the Russo-Ukrainian War for shipping, ports and energy facilities could be beneficial as a confidence-building measure.

Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukrainian ports in response to a growing campaign by Kyiv to hit Russian “shadow fleet” oil tankers with “kamikaze” naval drones in the Black Sea.

The damaged Turkish-owned ships included one loaded with food supplies, Ukrainian officials and one ship owner, as reported by Reuters, said.

Describing Ukraine’s naval drone attacks as “piracy”, Putin last week threatened to cut "Ukraine off from the sea" and include the vessels of any country aiding Ukraine in strikes on shipping. Black Sea shipping lanes are vital to Ukraine given that it is a major commodities exporter.

Ukraine says the sanctions-evading "shadow fleet" tankers  are legitimate targets as they are covertly taking Russian oil to world export markets, thereby generating revenues for the Kremlin’s war machine.

Firefighters seen at the site of a civilian vessel hit during a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk, Odesa region (Credit: Handout, press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Poltava region).

After the Russian attacks on the ports, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted photos that showed a large fire burning aboard a ship – identified as the Cent T, owned by Cenk Shipping – in the port of Chornomorsk in Odesa region. Firefighters were battling the blaze.

"This proves once again that Russians not only fail to take the current opportunity for diplomacy seriously enough, but also continue the war precisely to destroy normal life in Ukraine," he said.

The attacks on the ports of Chornomorsk and Odesa were made with drones and ballistic missiles, according to Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba.

Turkey's foreign ministry confirmed the damage suffered in Chornomorsk port, but said there were no reports of injured Turkish citizens.

Even before his talks with Putin in the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat – on the sidelines of an event held to mark 30 years since post-Soviet Turkmenistan's declaration of neutrality – Erdogan previously called on Ukraine and Russia to not target Black Sea ports and shipping.

"We reiterate the need for an arrangement whereby, in order to prevent escalation in the Black Sea, attacks targeting navigational safety as well as the parties’ energy and port infrastructure are suspended," the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.

Turkey has also put pressure on Ukraine to stop attacking the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) oil loading facilities in the vicinity of Novorossiysk on the Russian Black Sea coast, which are largely used by Kazakhstan to export its oil.

Ukraine has also this week hit Russian targets in the Caspian Sea, including vessels it claims were carrying military equipment, as well as an oil rig.

Speaking to reporters in Kyiv on December 11, Zelenskiy, as reported by AFP, said Turkey was working on plans for a ceasefire specifically related to energy infrastructure and shipping.

“President Erdogan mentioned this to me. I told him we would support it. He wanted to organise a corresponding meeting – initially at team level, then at the leaders’ level. I told him we are ready,” he was reported as saying.

“Today, the United States believes we are close to an agreement,” he added.

“From what I understand, the Russians simply told them that they would not agree to any [interim] ceasefire unless an agreement is signed,” he was also cited as saying, referring to a full and complete peace deal.