Turkey says ready to host four-way meeting to export Ukrainian grain via Black Sea

Turkey is ready to host a four-way meeting with the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine to organise a corridor to facilitate the export of food grains trapped in Ukrainian sea ports. On Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said, “If Russia answers positively, there will be a four-partite meeting in Istanbul.” The transcontinental country, which is walking on a tightrope between Moscow and Kyiv, houses the Bosphorus Strait which in turn, connects the Black Sea to Europe.  

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric showed a positive affirmation of the proposed plan. “We have been in very close contact and we are working in close cooperation with the Turkish authorities on this issue (of grain export),” he said. Furthermore, Dujarric emphasised that the role of the Turkish military is critical in such a situation. 

Since the start of the war, the ‘invading’ troops have launched several attacks and imposed a blockade on Ukrainian ports-particularly Odesa and Mariupol- both serving as the war-torn country’s prime outlet to the Black sea trade route. According to Çavuşoğlu, the UN has already laid out a detailed plan to facilitate the export of grains rotting on the seaports. He had said that the global body wants both the warring sides along with NATO member Turkey to come to common terms.

Is Russia profiting from pilfered grains?

Russia, which has allegedly plundered millions of tonnes of food grains from Ukraine, is now seeking to make profits by selling it to hunger-stricken countries, New York Times reported citing American officials. It is to note that before the war started, Ukraine made up one-tenth of global wheat exports but with Putin’s forces blocking ports and sabotaging agrarian fields, a threat of global food crisis has surfaced. The continent of Africa is particularly impacted, with many countries facing a potential family in near future.

Washington, in mid-May, sent an alert to 14 countries that Russian cargo vessels were leaving ports near Ukraine laden with what a State Department cable described as “stolen Ukrainian grain.” As per report, the cable identified three vessels by name it stated were suspected of transporting it. Russian troops captured Mairupol earlier in the war and subsequently moved to Odessa.

(Image: AP)