Russia “ready”, together with Turkey, to guarantee the safety of Ukrainian ships
Russia is “ready” to guarantee the safety of grain ships leaving Ukrainian ports, with the cooperation of Turkey, assured Wednesday its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, in Ankara. “We are ready to guarantee the safety of ships leaving Ukrainian ports (…) in cooperation with our Turkish colleagues”he said during a press conference with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavusoglu.
Lavrov arrived in Ankara on Tuesday evening to discuss the establishment of secure corridors to facilitate grain exports to the Black Sea. At the request of the United Nations, Turkey offered its assistance to escort these convoys from Ukrainian ports, despite the presence of mines, some of which were detected near the Turkish coast, in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. . For Mr. Cavusoglu, “The UN plan is reasonable and achievable. Ukraine and Russia should accept it”.
Ukraine, the world’s fourth largest corn exporter, was on its way to becoming the world’s third largest wheat exporter before the war. The ongoing conflict since February 24 has caused prices to soar and pose a serious risk of famine in the countries that depend on them, particularly in Africa and the Middle East.
The Turkish minister also considered that the lifting of sanctions targeting Russian agricultural exports is ” legit “. “If we are to open the Ukrainian international market, we believe that removing obstacles to Russian exports is legitimate”, Mr. Cavusoglu said. Mr. Cavusoglu specifically mentioned exports “cereals and fertilizers” which are not affected by Western sanctions against Moscow but are, in fact, prevented by the suspension of banking and financial exchanges.
Just before the war, kyiv exported 12% of the world’s wheat, 15% of corn and 50% of sunflower oil each month. “At the moment we have 20 to 25 tons blocked. This autumn we could reach 70 to 75 million tonnes”Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Monday.
Ukraine refuses to demine the port of Odessa to allow the resumption of its grain exports, because it fears that Russian forces will take the opportunity to attack the city, according to the spokesman of the administration of the region of Odessa. ‘Odessa, Sergey Bratchuk. If Ukraine clears the country’s main port, Russia “will want to attack, she dreams of parachuting troops”he said in a video message on Telegram. “The Russian Black Sea Fleet will pretend to withdraw towards annexed Crimea. But as soon as we clear the access to the port of Odessa, the Russian fleet will be there”he says.