Istanbul talks over Ukrainian grain ‘officially over’
Talks in Istanbul between Russian, Ukrainian and Turkish delegates to try to unblock grain exports from Ukrainian ports are “officially finished”, the Turkish Defense Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. After three hours of exchanges between military experts on the European side of the Bosphorus, in the presence of representatives of the United Nations Organization (UN), the discussions were closed at the end of the afternoon without it being possible to assess whether they have enabled any progress. Some 20 million tonnes of grain are currently tied up in ports in the Odessa region of southern Ukraine due to the Russian invasion launched on February 24.
These discussions were intended to establish secure sea corridors for exporting Ukrainian cereals piled up in the Black Sea ports by the Russians and the presence of mines laid by the Ukrainians to protect their coasts. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, “the Russian delegation prepared and presented (…) a set of proposals for a quick answer in practice to this question”. Moscow recalled on Tuesday its demand for “checking and searching ships to avoid arms smuggling and a commitment from kyiv not to organize provocations”. Russia also wants Ukraine to demine its ports, which the latter refuses to consider for fear of an amphibious assault on cities such as Odessa.
The head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kuleba, was however relatively confident about the outcome of this meeting: “We are on the verge of an agreement”he told the Spanish daily The country. “It all depends on Russia”added Mr. Kuleba, who nevertheless suspects the Russians of seeking to deprive kyiv of income: “They know that if we export, we will receive funds from international markets and that will strengthen us. »
Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and an ally of the two belligerents, has been increasing diplomatic efforts for months to facilitate the resumption of deliveries. Turkish officials have assured that they have 20 cargo ships in the Black Sea ready to be quickly loaded with Ukrainian cereals. So far, Turkish efforts, made at the request of the UN, have failed to resolve the situation. But the Russian presidents, Vladimir Putin, and Turkish presidents, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, are to meet on July 19 in Tehran on the sidelines of a summit on Syria, which could provide the framework conducive to the announcement of an agreement.
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