Turkey explains its idea to ease the global food crisis — RT World News
Ankara offers to serve as intermediary for shipping Ukrainian grain and sunflower oil to global market, president says
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has presented an idea to facilitate agricultural exports from Ukraine, which he wants to discuss with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, in the coming days.
Turkey could act as a middleman to ship goods from Ukraine, including grain, barley, oats and sunflower oil, Erdogan told reporters after attending Friday prayers in Istanbul. The country has stocks and merchant vessels needed for such an arrangement, he said.
kyiv and Western countries have accused Russia of blocking food exports from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, allegedly contributing to soaring global food prices. Moscow denies the allegation, saying it provides safe passage for freighters, but Ukraine blocks civilian ships from leaving cities like Odessa. Russia also claims that Ukraine’s deployment of sea mines has created a threat to shipping in the region.
Speaking at a Thursday press conference in Madrid, where he is attending the NATO summit, Erdogan said he intended to have phone conversations with Putin and Zelensky. The Turkish leader said his government wanted to ensure that a “the grain corridor begins to operate as soon as possible”.
Earlier in the week, the Turkish leader touted his mediation between Russia and Ukraine to his US counterpart, Joe Biden, saying Ankara « Balanced Policy » towards Moscow – which contrasts with the aggressive posturing of other NATO members – could soon yield results.
Russia sent troops to Ukraine on February 24, citing kyiv’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, intended to give the Donetsk and Lugansk regions special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has since admitted that kyiv’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to save time and « to create powerful armed forces. »
In February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Donbas republics as independent states and demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. kyiv insists the Russian offensive was unprovoked.
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