ANKARA, Turkey (Dispatches) — Russia and Turkey voiced support Wednesday for the creation of a safe maritime corridor in the Black Sea so Ukraine can export grain to global markets amid an escalating world food crisis. But Russia demanded that the Black Sea be demined and Turkey said allowing the Ukraine exports should be accompanied by easing Western sanctions against Russia.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu hosted his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Ankara for discussions focused on a UN proposal to free Ukraine’s Black Sea ports and allow 22 million tons of grain sitting in silos to be shipped out.
The two allies appeared eager to dictate the terms of Ukraine’s exports — which have been strongly affected by Russia-Ukraine war— and cement further control over the Black Sea. Ukraine was not invited to the talks.
Ukraine is one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, but the war has halted much of that flow, endangering food supplies to many developing countries. Many of those ports are now also heavily mined.
Russia has urged Ukraine to remove mines from the area near the Black Sea port of Odesa to allow safe grain exports. Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed that Russia will not use the demined corridors to launch an attack on the key Ukrainian port of Odesa.
Lavrov said that Russia is ready to formalize that guarantee for Odesa. The Russian envoy promised that Russia would not “abuse” its naval advantage if Ukraine’s ports were demined and would “take all necessary steps to ensure that the ships can leave there freely.”
Ukraine has rejected calls from Russia to de-mine its ports around the Black Sea to resume grain shipments, accusing Moscow of trying to “attack” the port of Odessa, the largest seaport in the crisis-stricken country.
Sergiy Bratchuk, a spokesman for Odessa’s regional administration, in a statement on Wednesday, noted that Russia “dreams of parachuting troops” into the city and that Moscow’s army “wants to attack” Odessa.
“The moment we clear access to the port of Odessa, the Russian fleet will be there,” Bratchuk said. He had earlier said that any exports from Odessa must be “escorted by NATO countries.”
Russia and Ukraine together produce virtually 30 percent of the global wheat supply.