Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss a new mechanism for exporting Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea during a meeting in Turkey.
Source: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in an interview with A Haber TV on Sunday, reports Reuters
Details: Putin is expected to visit Turkey on February 12, marking the Russian dictator’s first trip to a NATO member country since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Fidan said there are efforts to find “new methods” of transporting Ukrainian grain to world markets.
“The previous grain agreement worked within the framework of a certain mechanism, now we have seen that there is an opportunity to move to another mechanism, and now efforts are being made to concretize this opportunity,” the Turkish Foreign Minister said, adding that Erdogan will raise this issue during a meeting with Putin.
Fidan noted that some ships were able to transport Ukrainian grain from the Black Sea even without an agreement with Russia.
“We want to clarify this de facto (situation) through a new mechanism,” he said.
What preceded: On January 29, the Kremlin announced that Putin plans to visit Turkey in February.
On January 31, Reuters, citing a Turkish official, reported that Putin may come to Turkey on February 12.
Background:
- Russia unilaterally withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative in July 2023 and has since repeatedly attacked Ukraine’s grain port infrastructure. This agreement was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey to ensure safe passage for exports from Ukrainian ports.
- Ukraine managed to resume operation of the ports of Greater Odessa without the participation of third partieswhich became possible thanks to military prerequisites, in particular, an attack on a Russian landing ship in August.
- As of early January, the new Ukrainian sea corridor created by the Ukrainian Navy has ensured exports since August 2023 almost 15 million tons of productsincluding 10 million tons of agricultural products.
Read also: Water drones, Elon Musk and high-precision missiles: how Ukraine recaptured the Black Sea
2024-02-04 21:13:18
#Erdogan #discuss #Putin #mechanism #export #Ukrainian #grain #Turkish #Foreign #Ministry
