Turkey announced that it is taking the necessary measures to confront the danger of sea mines drifting in the Black Sea, in coordination with the concerned parties, amid the exchange of accusations between Russia and Ukraine over responsibility for those mines.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in statements he made today, Friday, that there is no problem regarding mines so far, and that his country continues to take the necessary measures to ward off this danger.

For her part, the official of the Information Office of the Turkish Ministry of Defense, Brigadier General Banar Kara, said in a press conference that the ministry continues its activities in "monitoring mines in the Black Sea in coordination with the Turkish Coast Guard Command and other institutions, via the air with naval patrol planes, helicopters and drones, and from the sea via ships." Hunting mines and patrol ships.

The Turkish official stated that Ankara is coordinating these efforts with the relevant parties, including Romania and Bulgaria.

And Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced - last week - that the "underwater defense" forces defused an old mine found in the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, which led to the temporary suspension of the movement of ships in the strait last Saturday.

Romania also spotted a sea mine that washed up on its coasts on the Black Sea.

Accusations

For its part, Ukraine blamed Russia for the mines, and the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that the mines that drifted into Turkish and Romanian waters are not registered with the Ukrainian naval forces.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry added - in a statement issued on Wednesday - that Russia is trying to provoke Ukraine and tarnish its reputation with international partners, by using sea mines that its forces seized during its occupation of the Ukrainian city of Sevastopol in 2014, according to the statement.

On the other hand, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Thursday that 10 mines laid by the Ukrainian Navy in the Black and Azov Seas were swept away by the winds, and their locations are currently unknown.

"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's claim before Norwegian parliamentarians that the Russian Navy mined Ukrainian ports to prevent foreign ships from entering is untrue," he added in a statement.

Konashenkov said that the Ukrainian Navy planted 420 mines in Black Sea and Azov between February 25 and March 4.