NATO supports Turkey's efforts to ensure the export of grain from Ukraine, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday at a press conference ahead of a meeting of the alliance's defense ministers in Brussels.
"The last time I spoke to [Turkish President Tayyip] Erdogan, he said he was making active efforts to reach an agreement on the export of grain from Ukraine. I support these efforts, and I hope they will end successfully," he said.
The secretary-general reiterated the thesis promoted by the United States, the EU and NATO that the rise in world grain prices was caused not by the breakdown of logistics chains and rising energy and fertilizer prices as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and EU and US sanctions against Russia, but solely by the conflict in Ukraine. Therefore, according to Stoltenberg, ending hostilities in this country is enough to overcome the global food crisis.
On June 6, Turkey and Russia announced an agreement on the possibility of creating a corridor for ships with grain from Ukrainian Black Sea ports after their demining by the Ukrainian side. This would ensure the export of grain by sea through the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea under the security guarantees of Moscow and Ankara. However, Kiev has so far refused to seriously consider this initiative.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: STEPHANIE LECOCQ/EPA/TASS
Based on materials from TASS