Türkiye will close the Black Sea strait to the Russian Navy.

RT Ankara should restrict access for Russian warships to the Black Sea due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Sunday.

"It's not just a few air strikes now, the situation in Ukraine is officially a war... We will implement the Montreux Convention," the official told CNN Turk in a live interview. "Turkey will implement all the provisions of the Montreux Convention in a transparent manner," he added.

Under the 1936 Montreux Convention, which regulates the straits of the Black Sea, Turkey may close the straits to military vessels of any nation in a formal state of war, as well as when it feels threatened by imminent war. The country cannot close the straits completely, however, unless it is in a state of war.

Ankara will still allow military ships returning to their home ports to pass through the strait, Cavusoglu noted. “There should be no abuse of this exemption. Ships declaring they are returning to their bases and passing through the strait should not be involved in the war,” the diplomat said.

Kyiv has repeatedly urged Ankara to close the strait to Russia, despite neither side in the ongoing conflict formally declaring war. Russia launched a large-scale military operation in Ukraine on Thursday, citing the need to protect the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics from an alleged all-out attack by Ukrainian troops. Ukraine has called the attack "unprovoked."

Kyiv has denied attempting to attack the republics that broke away from Ukraine after the Maidan coup in 2014 and the overthrow of the country's democratically elected government. Moscow formally recognized the republics as independent states on Monday, signing bilateral friendship treaties with them and pledging military assistance.

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