ANKARA —
Russia and
Türkiye made little headway on Wednesday in talks aimed at securing
safe passage for Ukrainian grain exports, as a Russian sea blockade triggered
new warnings of deadly famine.
اضافة اعلان
Prior to the
war,
Ukraine was a major exporter of wheat, corn, and sunflower oil, but
shipments have been blocked since Russia invaded its neighbor in late February,
causing food prices to soar worldwide.
Countries in the
Middle East and Africa depend on Ukraine’s exports, raising fears of hunger in
those countries.
At the request
of the UN, Türkiye has offered its services to escort maritime convoys from
Ukrainian ports, despite the presence of mines — some of which have been
detected near the Turkish coast.
“We are ready to
ensure the safety of ships that leave Ukrainian ports,”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a news conference with Turkish counterpart
Mevlut Cavusoglu after talks in Ankara.
Ukraine, which
was not part of the talks in Türkiye, has said it is ready to create conditions
to resume exports from its ports, but it seeks security guarantees not to be
attacked by Russia.
But Russia’s
chief diplomat blamed Ukraine for the situation.
“Grain can be
freely transported to destinations, there are no obstacles from Russia,” Lavrov
said.
Referring to
Ukraine’s president, he said “it is necessary that Mr (Volodymyr)
Zelensky give
an order, if he is still in charge of something there, to allow foreign and
Ukrainian ships to enter the Black Sea.”
Lavrov also said
Russia was ready to provide guarantees it would not launch any attacks if
Ukraine de-mined ports.
“We are ready to
do this in cooperation with our Turkish colleagues.”
‘Condemning
millions to death’
Cavusoglu said the UN plan was “reasonable” and “implementable”, and he
offered to host a meeting in Istanbul to discuss the details of the scheme.
“We prepared a
plan for food corridors,” a Turkish diplomatic source said.
“We presented it
to Russia but as you see during the press conference, Russia sends the ball
into the court of Ukraine,” added the source, who declined to be named.
Zelensky said
this week that the amount of grain blocked by the war could triple within
several months.
At separate
talks on the global food crisis, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio warned
that millions of people could die of hunger unless Russia lifted its blockade.
“The next few
weeks will be crucial to resolving the situation,” he said after a virtual
meeting involving Türkiye and Lebanon among other Mediterranean countries,
alongside G7 president Germany and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
“I want to say
clearly, we expect clear and concrete signals from Russia, because blocking
grain exports means holding hostage and condemning to death millions of children,
women and men.”
Russian exports
Türkiye, which hosted talks between Russian and Ukrainian foreign
ministers in March aimed at ending the war, has positioned itself as a neutral
mediator as it maintains a delicate balancing act between its two Black Sea
neighbors.
At the press
conference, Cavusoglu said it was also important to export Russian goods as
much as the Ukrainians, calling Moscow’s demands for an end to sanctions to
help grain onto the world market “legitimate”.
“If we need to
open up the international market to Ukrainian grain, we see the removal of
obstacles standing in the way of Russia’s exports as a legitimate demand,” he
said.
Soner Cagaptay,
a specialist on Türkiye for the Washington Institute think tank, said the
UN-led plan that would allow Russia to trade with the outside world “could
work.”
“Because
ultimately this is about food security. Yes, people don’t want Russia to make
money but at the same time nobody wants famine,” he told AFP.
Russia and
Ukraine produce 30 percent of the global wheat supply.
Cagaptay said some
progress could be made in the future, but it might require Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in the Russian
southwestern city of Sochi, “where there’s nobody around to eavesdrop.”
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