Lavrov-Tsavousoglu meeting on Ukrainian cereals without ‘white smoke’

The meeting between Mevlüt Çavuşoλουlu and Sergei Lavrov in Ankara ended without a specific agreement, with the main topic of discussion being the creation of sea corridors in the Black Sea that will allow the re-export of Ukrainian grain. The two foreign ministers indicated the need for more talks between the parties involved in order to reach a mechanism.

In particular, the Turkish Foreign Minister stated that “further talks with all parties are required “to conclude the measures to be taken for the safe passage of ships through Ukraine.”

Mr. Tsavousoglou characterized the UN plan makes sense and “applicable”, to set up a mechanism between the United Nations, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey, which will allow the re-export of Ukrainian cereals. “Of course both Ukraine and Russia have to accept that,” he said.

The Turkish Foreign Minister noted that Ankara considers Russia’s request for lifting of sanctions on Russian agricultural exports “reasonable” to facilitate Ukrainian exports.

“If we are to open the Ukrainian international market, we consider that the removal of barriers to Russian exports is a legitimate request,” he said.

Finally, Mr. Tsavousoglou stated that he distinguished “a will to return to the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine” and described the meeting with his Russian counterpart as constructive.

For his part Sergei Lavrov referred to the need for further dialogue between Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN to reach a plan to unblock Ukrainian cereals, while blamed the biggest responsibility on Kyiv stressing that it must solve the problem of resuming grain shipments by demining of ports.

Lavrov said no action was needed on the part of Russia, as it had already made the necessary commitments.

“We declare that we are ready to guarantee the safety of ships leaving Ukrainian ports bound for the Bosphorus. we are ready to do this in cooperation with our Turkish colleagues“, he stressed.

“All that is needed is for the Ukrainians to let the ships get out of their ports, either by demining them or by setting up safe corridors, nothing more,” he said.

Ukraine is one of the largest grain exporters in the world, and Western countries have accused Russia of endangering global hunger by closing Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea.

Lavrov insisted that the main problem arose from Lavrov’s persistent refusal to resolve the problem of minefields.

“If they have changed their position now, then we will not create complications, let’s see how the preliminary agreements we discussed yesterday and today can be implemented in practice,” he said.

Mr Lavrov said he appreciated Turkey’s efforts to help find a way out of the situation.

Regarding the war in Ukraine, he noted that “the Russian military operation is developing according to the Moscow plan” and that the Kremlin will fulfill its goals.

He said that before a possible Putin-Zelensky meeting, the peace talks would have to be restarted.