ISTANBUL, Turkey —
Turkey next week will host
Russian, Ukrainian, and UN officials for talks aimed at resuming stalled grain
exports across the Black Sea, local media reported Tuesday.
اضافة اعلان
The meeting in
Istanbul would be preceded by a visit to Moscow by a Turkish defence delegation
this week, NTV television and CNN Turk cited Turkish presidential sources as
saying.
Millions of tonnes
of wheat and other grains are currently stuck in Ukrainian ports, either
blockaded or occupied by
Russian forces, and vessels face the danger of mines.
According to the
Turkish foreign ministry, the UN has submitted a plan to facilitate exports
that would see safe corridors set up around known mines.
The plan would
not require lengthy and complex demining operations,
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said last week.
The initiative
has been backed by the EU but received a cautious response from Kyiv, which is
looking for ways to export the grain by land, without talking to the Russians.
Cavusoglu this
month hosted his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Ankara to discuss the
issue, but without conclusive results.
The Turkish
reports did not specify who would attend next week’s meeting.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed grain deliveries with UN Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres on Monday.
Turkey is “exerting
joint efforts with the UN 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.
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