President Iliana Iotova has proposed a Black Sea security forum where the six countries with a coast on the sea would agree a moratorium on fighting in its waters, her press office said.

Under the proposal, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Georgia, Ukraine and Russia would take part. Russia began its war on Ukraine in February 2022. Iotova put the idea to European Parliament representatives at a meeting at the presidency.

Iotova says the war, which Russia began with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has destabilised the Black Sea region, and that this calls for responsibility and active diplomacy.

Iotova also asked for a moratorium on fighting in the Black Sea at her campaign meeting in Burgas. On 14 October, as a presidential candidate, she called on the six Black Sea countries to reach a deal, speaking to a full hall at the State Opera.

She says the aim of the diplomacy is free and safe shipping. Iotova opposes a war of attrition in Ukraine and wants Europe to play a bigger part in the talks with its own peace proposal.