Turkey discusses new grain corridor with Ukraine
At least 33 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain have been exported since August 2022 under the "grain initiative" when it was in place.
Turkey is negotiating with Russia and Ukraine on the resumption of the Black Sea grain arrangements. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said this on his return from the NATO summit, as quoted by the Anadolu agency.
At the same time, as the Turkish leader pointed out, he cannot yet boast of the results of such negotiations.
We propose to reopen the grain corridor and now we are negotiating with Russia and Ukraine. We have not received any results on this issue yet," he told reporters.
He specified that he had discussed the grain corridor with Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin and also discussed the grain corridor with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the NATO summit.
At the same time, the Turkish leader recalled that his country "made fair steps within the framework of the Black Sea grain initiative" while it was in force.
We have fulfilled the requirements of both Russia and Ukraine. We were talking about supplies to the West and Africa, and Turkey received something. Now we propose to open the grain corridor again," he added.
Recall that the agreement on the resumption of grain exports by the Black Sea was signed on 22 July 2022. Since August 2022 under the "grain initiative" exported at least 33 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain.
Russia withdrew from the agreement in July 2023, saying its own food and fertiliser exports faced serious obstacles.
In August 2023, Kiev announced the creation of a "humanitarian corridor" after Moscow withdrew from an agreement that guaranteed Ukraine's agricultural exports during the war.