World famine is postponed: negotiations on the export of Ukrainian grain will be held today in Istanbul
Negotiations between Ukrainian and Turkish representatives regarding navigation in the Black Sea will take place today in Istanbul. After this, a meeting will take place between Ukraine, Turkey, the UN and Russia at which the opening of sea corridors for the export of Ukrainian grain will be discussed.
The head of the Office of Vladimir Zelensky, Andriy Ermak, announced this in his telegram channel.
“A meeting of Ukrainian and Turkish representatives is planned there. After this, an extended meeting will take place between Ukraine, Turkey, the UN and the Russian Federation, at which issues of the functioning of sea corridors for grain exports should be discussed. The issue of unblocking the export of Ukrainian grain should be resolved under the auspices of the UN. Secretary General Antonio Guterres is involved in this process, we are grateful to him for this,” the Ukrainian official noted.
Ermak called the unblocking of Ukrainian ports “one of the key components of global food security.”
For its part, the Turkish Ministry of Defense confirmed the fact of today’s meeting in Istanbul of the delegations of Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and the UN to find a solution to the “grain problem”.
“Ankara has structured its foreign policy in such a way that everyone will watch the growth of its influence. We watched from the outside as Turkey unobtrusively, but quite skillfully changed the balance of power in the region and even the world. Ankara plans to be a central player not only in relations between Russia and the West - it takes a broader view,” says expert Vladimir Avatkov.
Avatkov believes that today’s grain negotiations are a “test of strength” on the eve of upcoming negotiations in Tehran in a week between the heads of Turkey, Russia and Iran Erdogan, Putin and Raisi.
“Turkey sets the agenda for the day, evening and even night – it is “on the agenda” around the clock,” the expert added.
In turn, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais, expressed confidence that Ukraine and Russia are “two steps away” from reaching an agreement on the issue of grain exports.
Earlier, the Ukrainian Navy reported that “Eight foreign ships for the first time since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia entered Ukrainian ports to load grain.”
It is reported that the grain will be exported through the river ports of the Danube-Black Sea canal. All cargo ships will be accompanied by warships for security purposes.
Ukrainian politician Oleg Tsarev, who has defected to the Russian Federation, considers Kyiv’s statements that the unblocking of grain became possible due to the fact that Ukraine regained control over Zmeiny Island to be unjustified. According to him, this is another gesture of goodwill on the part of the Russian leadership to create a positive background for the negotiations.
“These are completely unrelated events. If desired, the armed forces of the Russian Federation could destroy all ships in and near the Black Sea without Zmeiny Island. Ukrainian propaganda specifically focuses on the island in order to raise the significance of the fact that Russian armed forces have left the island.”
Political commentator with nationalist views Yegor Kholmogorov opposes negotiations in principle.
“The optimal solution to the “Ukrainian grain problem” is to identify all points of massive storage of export grain in Ukraine and destroy them with missile and artillery strikes. Thus, the grain problem will be resolved,” he writes in Telegram.
And the authors of the telegram channel “Rybar” fear that, under the guise of exporting grain to Ukraine, they will still smuggle weapons without fear of any control from the Russian side.
“Eight ships have already passed through the Danube throat Bystroe and are loaded with Ukrainian grain. One could only be glad that the “gesture of goodwill” in the form of leaving Snake Island worked and world famine seems to be postponed.
But the only problem is that it is not profitable to drive ships from Romania to Ukraine empty. And this works both ways: grain, if desired, can be transported by rail (which, in fact, was done this way).
As a result, there is a high probability that weapons, ammunition, spare parts and elements of military equipment are delivered on ships going for grain. According to local residents, the bridge in Zatoka has been restored and trains are already running across it. Therefore, it is quite possible to transport containers with weapons from the Danube ports to the central regions.
And “peaceful” cargo ships act as an ideal cover: you can always again accuse Russia of trying to starve the world.
It’s not just grain that is exported back from Ukraine. Although this food is an extremely valuable resource, what prevents us from combining business with pleasure and bringing something much more exclusive out of Ukraine?” the authors of “Rybar” ask themselves.
English version :: Read in English World famine postponed: Ukrainian grain export talks to be held in Istanbul today