By Janet Ekstract
İSTANBUL-On Wednesday, Turkish Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın told CNN that the grain deal between Russia and Ukraine, could lead to opening talks toward peace. As Kalin commented: “We still believe that the trust that we were able to build through the U.N. between the Russian and Ukrainian sides for a grain deal, could, in fact, can work as a platform to restart or reinitiate the negotiations again.” He stressed that the most crucial point moving forward is support from the international community. Kalin added that his country is still “very much concerned” about the current conflict escalating and that his government is working diligently through diverse channels to bring both sides together.
A major concern in the international community as well as for Türkiye, is the very real possibility of a nuclear disaster due to fighting taking place in the vicinity of the Zazporizhzhia nuclear power plant which is the largest one in Europe and especially vulnerable. As Kalın said: “We don’t want to end up with another Chernobyl accident,” and added that the situation there remains “extremely critical.” While the UN reported that preparations continue for a possible visit from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – no scheduled date has yet been set for that to happen. Kalın has called on the international community to do its part to support securing the power plant. The presidential spokesman reiterated Türkiye’s support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and said that Russia’s annexation of Crimea was unlawful.
