Turkish, Ukrainian top diplomats discuss grain corridor

ANKARA

The Turkish and Ukrainian foreign ministers, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Dmytro Kuleba, discussed the ongoing efforts for the establishment of a food corridor through the Black Sea amid Ukraine’s call on Türkiye for the detention of a Russian vessel allegedly carrying its grain.

The ministers reviewed the latest developments in the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine as well as works for allowing Ukraine to begin exporting its millions of tons of grain and other products to the world markets.

Türkiye has been in talks with both Russia and Ukraine to make it possible under a U.N. plan. The failure to create a secure corridor in the Black Sea for Ukrainian wheat can lead to a major global food crisis, particularly in the underdeveloped parts of the continent.

The ministers also discussed the situation concerning Zhibek Zholy, a Russian-flagged cargo ship, for allegedly carrying Ukraine’s grain. Kiev demanded the detention of the ship after it anchored in the Turkish territorial waters, near Sakarya province of Karasu, in the past days.

The ship reportedly left the Turkish territorial waters in the early hours of July 7, which prompted Kiev’s reaction.

“We regret that Russia’s ship Zhibek Zholy, which was full of stolen Ukrainian grain, was allowed to leave Karasu Port despite criminal evidence presented to the Turkish authorities,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said on Twitter. He said Türkiye’s ambassador to Ukraine will be invited to the Foreign Ministry to clarify the situation.

In the meantime, Çavuşoğlu held an in-person meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Indonesia on the sidelines of the G-20 foreign ministers’ summit.

“Met with Foreign Minister Lavrov of Russia on the margins of G20 foreign ministers’ meeting. Discussed war in Ukraine, food security and Syria,” Çavuşoğlu tweeted.