Wed 22 June 2022:
Russian and Turkish delegations have agreed to continue consultations on safe vessel departures and grain exports from Ukrainian ports, the Russian defence ministry said on Wednesday.
Ukraine is one of the top wheat suppliers globally, but its grain shipments have stalled and tonnes of grain has been trapped in silos since Russia sent troops into the country.
Moscow denies responsibility for the food crisis and blames Western sanctions for the shortage.
Earlier on the sources speaking to Reuters said a four-way meeting between Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and the Un would be held in Istanbul in the coming weeks, possibly with the participation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The sources said that the plan envisaged creating three corridors from Ukraine’s Black Sea port city of Odesa under Kyiv’s supervision, and that both Ukrainian and Russian food products would be shipped from there.
They said 30 to 35 million tonnes of grain could be shipped from the port in the next six to eight months.
Asked about the plans outlined by the sources, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said “the discussions on these issues are continuing”, without further elaborating.
Earlier this month, Cavusoglu hosted his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in Ankara to discuss the issue, but without conclusive results.
President Erdogan also discussed grain exports with the UN’s Guterres on Monday.
Turkey is “exerting joint efforts with the United Nations for the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea in a bid to avert a global food crisis,” Erodgan’s office said on Tuesday.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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