Russia calls full compliance to Montreux Convention

Russia's Ambassador to Ankara's remarks came after the U.S. demanded to use straits to send two hospital ships carrying aid to Georgia in an apparent move that would violate the C-convention. Turkey did not allow the passage of another two U.S. vessels, which exceeded the weight limit defined in the convention, instead allowing three lighter warships to pass through its straits.

“Russia and Turkey have one hundred percent the same approach on the Montreux Convention. We believe that this agreement complies with the needs of the today's world. Both countries support the full implementation of the Montreux Conventon,” Vladimir Ivanovsky said at a press conference on Wednesday in Ankara.

Ivanovsky also criticized the United States for sending humanitarian aid aboard warships. “The countries which are not party to the Montreux Convention must also comply with it completely.”

The U.S. destroyer McFall, the coast guard cutter Dallas and the command ship USS Mount Whitney arrived at the Black Sea after passing through the Turkish straits transporting humanitarian aid to Georgia.

"Russia's navy is monitoring NATO ships in the Black Sea," AFP also quoted a top Russian general as saying on Wednesday and added that he warned that a further build-up could be in violation of a pre-World War II agreement.

"In light of the build-up of NATO naval forces in the Black Sea, the fleet has also taken on the task of monitoring their activities," the deputy head of Russia’s general staff, Anatoly Nogovitsyn, said.

NATO must respect limits set on vessels deployed in the Black Sea that were set in the 1936 agreement signed in Montreux, Switzerland, he also said.

The humanitarian crisis arose after clashes erupted between Russia and Georgia after Moscow responded to Tblisi's a military operation against the separatist South Ossetia region earlier this month.

Military ships from Spanish, German, Polish and U.S. navies sailed through the straits within the framework of a NATO exercise in line with notifications made to Turkey under the Montreux Convention.

Turkey governs international transit through the Turkish straits under the 1936 Montreux Convention that governs the movement of non-Turkish military vessels during peace time and sets weight limits for shipping passing through the straits.

CAUCASUS PLATFORM TO BE DISCUSSED

Ivanovsky also said Turkish and Russian foreign ministers would meet in Istanbul to discuss establishment of a Caucasus Cooperation and Stability Platform issue in detail in early September.

He said that problematic neighboring countries Turkey and Armenia, as well as Russia and Georgia, could sit at the table to discuss such issues within the framework of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization meeting to be held in October.

Turkey had proposed the formation of a Caucasian union to strengthen economic ties between the countries in the region to contribute to the peaceful solution of the problems after the conflict that erupted between Georgia and Russia. Ankara believes a stable Caucasus is crucial for its interests.

He also said recognition of Kosovo's independence violated Europe's "national sovereignty principle".

Russia moved on Tuesday to officially recognize Georgia’s separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent. A move that prompted harsh criticism as NATO and Western countries lead by the U.S rejected Russia’s decision, calling it a violation of U.N. resolutions on Georgia’s territorial integrity.

Photo: AA