Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin believes that problems with the supply of Ukrainian grain to world markets can be resolved within a week or two. His commentary was quoted by the Star newspaper on Wednesday.
"Our foreign ministry and interested departments have been discussing the issue with the Ukrainian and Russian sides, with the United Nations for some time," said a spokesman for Recep Tayyip Erdogan, recalling that the topic had been discussed by the Russian and Turkish leaders on the phone. The issue of grain supplies and the creation of a security corridor for this purpose is planned to be discussed during the upcoming June 8 visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to the republic, Kalin noted. "The details of this problem will be clarified next week during this visit. Turkey is ready to start work in this direction as soon as possible," the presidential spokesman said.
According to him, there are a number of technical issues that need to be discussed at the talks. "Decisions on all of these issues will be taken within one to two weeks at meetings in Turkey, which will enable it to undertake the important mission of overcoming the global food crisis," the Turkish presidential spokesman said.
Asked whether representatives of Ukraine are expected to visit Turkey in the next two weeks, Kalin said "there is no planned visit yet." "But our doors are always open to Ukrainian friends," he added.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Anadolu Agency reporters on Tuesday that one of the main obstacles to the free passage of vessels carrying grain from Odessa is mines in the Black Sea that Ukraine has installed. Another reason is the sanctions against Russian vessels in the issue of their insurance and the impossibility of service in international ports. Cavusoglu spoke in favor of creating a mechanism for the settlement of the problem of grain exports with the participation of the UN.
On the problem of grain exports
Russian and Turkish Presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the situation in Ukraine by telephone on May 30, focusing on ensuring safe navigation in the Black and Azov Seas and eliminating the threat of mines in their waters. Putin, according to the Kremlin press service, noted the readiness of the Russian side to facilitate the unimpeded maritime transit of cargo in coordination with its Turkish partners. The same applies to the export of grain from Ukrainian ports.
The situation in Ukraine and large-scale sanctions imposed against Russia by the United States and the European Union caused disruptions in grain supplies, which increases the risk of a food crisis in a number of countries around the world. Wheat and corn prices have increased significantly since the beginning of the year. As it was noted at the meeting of the UN Security Council on May 21, the world's wheat stocks are only sufficient for ten weeks, and the situation is worse than in the crisis years of 2007-2008.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov previously stated that the food crisis in the world happened long before the special military operation in Ukraine and was caused, among other things, by the coronavirus pandemic and miscalculations of Western countries. Lavrov added that the current situation had exacerbated the problem and that Western sanctions were one of the key reasons for the disruption of food supplies, which exacerbated the crisis.
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Based on materials from TASS