By Janet Ekstract
İSTANBUL- On Wednesday, the foreign ministers of Russia and Türkiye continued their talks on creating safe passage for grain exports from Ukraine. While Ukraine is not directly involved in the talks, Türkiye offered to mediate with Russia about the situation at the behest of the UN. Turkish officials said they are ready to facilitate conditions to resume exports of Ukrainian grain from Turkish ports but Türkiye said it wants security guarantees from Russia that they won’t be attacked. Turkish officials indicated Türkiye can escort maritime convoys from Ukrainian ports despite there being mines near the Turkish coast. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a joint news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu: “We are ready to ensure the safety of ships that leave Ukrainian ports.” Lavrov went on to blame the export situation on Ukraine, commenting: “Grain can be freely transported to destinations, there are no obstacles from Russia.
Lavrov said that “it is necessary that Mr. Zelensky give an order,” referring to allowing foreign and Ukrainian ships to enter the Black Sea. The Russian prime minister said his government is ready to give guarantees not to launch attacks on the condition that Ukraine demines ports. He added: “We are ready to do this in cooperation with our Turkish colleagues.” Cavusoglu said the UN plan is “reasonable” and “implementable.” The Turkish foreign minister offered to host a meeting in Istanbul to discuss the plan in detail. A Turkish diplomatic source revealed that a plan has been prepared for food corridors. The diplomatic source told Anadolu Agency: “We presented it to Russia but as you see during the press conference, Russia sends the ball into the court of Ukraine.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky sounded a stark warning this week, stating that the amount of grain blocked by the war could triple in several months. In separate talks on the food crisis worldwide, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio in a virtual meeting with Türkiye, Lebanon and other Mediterranean countries with G7 president, Germany and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO), sounded the alarm that millions of people could die of hunger if Russia refuses to lift its sea blockade. Di Maio said that the next several weeks will be “crucial” in solving this issue. Di Maio added: “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.”
Weighing in on the situation further, Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu pointed out that exporting Russian goods is just as important as exporting Ukrainian goods. As Cavusoglu commented: “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.” Cavusoglu labeled Russia’s demands for an end to sanctions to get grain into the world market as “legitimate.”
Meanwhile, a specialist on Türkiye for the Washington Institute think tank Soner Cagaptay told APF that the UN-led plan that would allow Russia to trade with other countries could be viable. Cagaptay said: “Because ultimately this is about food security. Yes, people don’t want Russia to make money but at the same time, nobody wants famine.” Both Russia and Ukraine produce 30 percent of the global wheat supply which is especially crucial for African countries. Before the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Ukraine was a major exporter of wheat, corn and sunflower oil. A majority of countries in the Middle East and Africa depend on Ukraine’s exports which is increasingly raising fears a famine could be imminent.
