Türkiye will not let UK's minehunters gifted to Ukraine into Black Sea

Turkiye has denied reports that it has allowed two minehunters handed over to Ukraine by the UK to enter the Black Sea. Source: European Pravda; Statement from the Turkish Presidential Office's Centre for Countering Disinformation  Details: The agency said that the claims of some media that "minehunters donated to Ukraine by the UK were allowed to pass through the Turkish straits into the Black Sea" were not true.

It recalled that Turkiye, as the guarantor of the Black Sea straits of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles under the Montreux Convention, closed them "to warships of the belligerents (Russia and Ukraine)". 

"Our respective allies have been duly informed that the minehunters donated to Ukraine by the UK will not be able to pass through the Turkish straits to the Black Sea as long as the war continues," the Turkish Disinformation Counteraction Centre added. The agency stressed that this decision allows "to prevent escalation in the Black Sea". It was announced in December that Ukraine would receive two UK minehunters against the backdrop of the creation of the Maritime Capabilities Coalition, which will be responsible for strengthening Ukraine's naval capabilities.

As part of the coalition, the UK and Norway announced the transfer of two Royal Navy Sandown-class minehunters to Ukraine.

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