Move FM Global News

ANKARA, Turkey: As Ukraine said Russia was imposing unreasonable conditions and the Kremlin said free shipment depended on an end to western-imposed sanctions, Turkey’s efforts to negotiate a deal for the safe passage of grain stuck in Black Sea ports have effectively stalled.

The war between Russia and Ukraine, the world’s third and fourth largest grain exporters, has led to rising food prices and placed global food supplies at risk.

After nearly 15 weeks of war, Russia has seized large parts of Ukraine’s coast, and its warships control the Black and Azov Seas, blocking exports of Ukrainian produce and driving up the cost of grain.

The West and Kyiv accuse Moscow of weaponizing food supplies, but Russia claims Ukrainian mines laid at sea and international sanctions on Moscow are to blame.

Speaking alongside his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, said talks in Ankara were fruitful and restarting Ukrainian grain exports along a sea corridor was reasonable.

Lavrov said Ukraine must de-mine its ports, as a precondition for the safe passage of shipments, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russian grain could only be delivered to international markets if sanctions were lifted.

Meanwhile, the United Nations is working to restart grain exports from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, with Turkey possibly providing naval escorts to ensure safe passage.

Also, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that over the past 10 days senior UN officials held talks with Ankara, Brussels, Kyiv, Moscow and Washington, but he did not want to “jeopardize the chances of success” by commenting further.

Still, a Ukrainian official cast doubt on Turkey’s ability to mediate the free passage of Ukrainian grain blocked by Russia.

Serhiy Ivashchenko, director of Ukrainian grain traders’ union UGA, told an online conference, “Turkey as a guarantor is an insufficient force in the Black Sea to guarantee the safety of cargo.”

This week, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine discussed, with the UK and Turkey, the idea of a navy from a third country guaranteeing safe passage for Ukraine’s grain exports through the Black Sea.