Turkey and Russia have agreed to continue talks on unblocking Ukraine's ports

At yesterday's meeting in Istanbul, the foreign ministers of Turkey and Russia discussed the issue of unblocking exports from Ukrainian ports and agreed to continue negotiations, involving the UN and Ukraine.

Through its mediation, Turkey expects to receive a 25% discount on Ukrainian grain, as well as increase supplies to the world market, which will reduce prices and help the country curb inflation, which reached 74% in May.

Russia is demanding the lifting of sanctions in exchange for unblocking Ukraine's ports and accuses the latter of delaying the process. Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu said that "his country considers justified and legitimate Russia's demands to remove obstacles to the export of its goods in exchange for maritime supplies from Ukraine."

At the same time, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said that "if and if Ukraine demines its ports and allows ships to leave, the Russian president guarantees that his army will not use it in favor of a special military operation that is underway."

However, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine O. Nikolenko noted that “Lavrov's statements about security guarantees in case of demining of Ukrainian ports are empty. Ukraine will not allow Russia to use grain corridors to attack port cities, so it will insist on the supply of military equipment to protect the coastline and convoys of partner countries to patrol the Black Sea.

Talking about guarantees, Russia continues to steal Ukrainian grain. On Wednesday, the occupiers announced that they began to export grain from the Zaporozhye region through the Crimea in the direction of the Middle East, "Interfax reported.

Grain stolen in Ukraine is imported to Turkey on the basis of forged documents, where the supplier is a Russian company.

"Currently, Ukraine records at least three crimes: the first - theft of grain, the second - illegal use of Ukrainian ports, the third - the export of grain on false documents to Turkey, because documents from Kherson or the occupied Crimea would be difficult to sell," said the Ukrainian ambassador. Turkey's Vasyl Bondar.

According to the UN, due to Russian aggression in the ports of Ukraine blocked 25 million tons of grain and 80 ships carrying 450 sailors, a third of whom are Filipinos, as well as many citizens of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Syria. However, even if the issue is resolved, the ports will not be able to open immediately, as it will take several months to clear the roads before the ships can go to sea.