Moscow’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that Russia is “willing” to guarantee the safety of grain ships departing from Ukrainian ports in cooperation with Turkey.
“We are ready to ensure the safety of ships leaving Ukrainian ports in cooperation with our Turkish counterparts,” Lavrov said at a press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.
Lavrov arrived in Ankara on Tuesday night to discuss the creation of sea corridors to facilitate grain exports. Ukraine was the world’s fourth-largest exporter of corn and before the war it was on track to become the world’s third-largest exporter of wheat.
The conflict that started on February 24 caused prices to rise and brought many countries, especially Africa and the Middle East, to the brink of famine.
He added that Moscow will not take advantage of the situation to advance its “special military operation” as long as Ukraine allows ships to leave port safely.
“These are the assurances of the Russian President,” Lavrov said.
At the request of the UN, Turkey offered to accompany the ships.
For Çavuşoğlu, “The UN plan is reasonable and feasible.” “Ukraine and Russia should agree,” he said.
The Turkish minister also said it would be “legitimate” to lift sanctions on Russian agricultural exports.
“If we are going to open the Ukrainian international market, we think it is legitimate to remove the barriers to Russia’s exports,” Çavuşoğlu said.
Before the war, Ukraine was exporting 12% of the world’s wheat, 15% of its corn and 50% of its sunflower oil every month.
“We currently have between 20 and 25 tons of blockage. In autumn (spring in the northern hemisphere, in Brazil) we can reach 70 to 75 million tons,” warned Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday.
Turkey’s Minister of Agriculture, Vahit Kirişçi, said that “Ukraine is currently protecting its trade ports with mines” and fears “it will be attacked by Russia” if it withdraws its weapons.
*With information from Reuters
source: Noticias
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