Russian-Turkish consultations, which took place on December 8-9 in Istanbul, were substantive and productive. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said this on the air of the Rossiya-24 television channel on Friday.
"These were good substantive detailed consultations. It is probably more accurate to say that they were in the spirit of those dialogue talks that are held at the level of the presidents of our two countries," he said.
The diplomat said that as part of his trip he also visited the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul to monitor the implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. "I talked to the delegations working there, primarily representatives of the UN, Turkey and Russia. I had a particularly good, detailed meeting with the Russian team. I must say that, of course, our guys are working selflessly," he stressed.
Vershinin noted that the Russian representatives are doing a great job. "Excellent from the point of view of the fact that the inspections should give reliable results of the intended use of that sea humanitarian passage, which was established in accordance with the Black Sea grain deal," he explained.
Arrangements for the export of food from Ukraine were made on July 22 in Istanbul for 120 days. One of the agreements is valid until November 19 and regulates the order of grain exports from Kiev-controlled ports in Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. And the Joint Coordination Center created by Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN in Istanbul is designed to inspect vessels with grain in order to prevent arms smuggling and exclude provocations. This part was signed by Russia, Turkey and the UN and separately by Ukraine, Turkey and the UN.
In addition, a memorandum was signed between Russia and the UN, which envisages obligations of the world organization to remove various restrictions on the export of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to world markets.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Based on materials from TASS