TURKEY has warned that mines discovered off the Black Sea coast may have been placed there deliberately to press Ankara into allowing Nato ships into the region.

Defence Minister Hulusi Akar told Turkey’s Central Decision and Executive Board (MKYK) last week that at least three mines had been discovered and destroyed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February. 

But there are reports of around 400 mines in the Black Sea waters, he added, with investigations underway to discover which country placed them there. 

“Maybe these mines were left within a plan for Nato minesweepers to enter the Black Sea,” he said on Sunday, according to Hurriyet Daily News. 

Mr Akar has insisted that Turkey would continue to abide by the Montreux Convention, which allows for regulation of maritime traffic through the Turkish Straits during times of war. 

“We will not let warships into the Black Sea. We will not allow the Black Sea to be drawn into the war,” he insisted.

Russia claims that Ukraine has deployed mines at the approaches to Black Sea ports, with intelligence services saying last month that they may be drifting towards the Bosphorus. 

Ukraine denies the charges and has accused Russia of laying mines as “uncontrolled drifting ammunition.”