Turkey's Erdogan says attacks on Black Sea commercial ships unacceptable

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that attacks on commercial ships in the Black Sea were unacceptable, issuing a warning to "all related sides" after an unmanned vessel reportedly struck a tanker off Turkey's northern coast.

“The war between Russia and Ukraine has clearly begun to threaten navigational safety in the Black Sea. The targeting of vessels in our Exclusive Economic Zone on Friday signals a worrying escalation," Erdogan told reporters.

"We cannot justify these attacks in any way. We are conveying the necessary warnings to all relevant sides regarding such incidents.”

Turkey said on Saturday that the Virat, a tanker that forms part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet, was hit late on Friday by an unmanned vessel some 35 miles off Turkey’s Black Sea coast.

A Ukrainian official said on Saturday that Ukrainian naval drones hit two sanctioned tankers in the Black Sea as they headed to a Russian port to load up with oil destined for foreign markets, as Kyiv tries to pile pressure on Russia's vast oil industry.