The Turkish Ministry of Defense announced that a Turkish merchant ship sailed from the Ukrainian port of Mariupol, today, Wednesday, after talks between the Russian and Turkish delegations in Moscow regarding the grain blockade in Ukraine.
A few hours after the end of the long meeting, the Turkish cargo ship (Azov Concorde), which had been waiting for days, left the Ukrainian port, the ministry said in a statement carried by the French news agency.[“AzovConcord”)queestavaàesperahádiasdeixouoportoucraniano”disseoministérionumadeclaraçãocitadapelaagênciafrancesaAFP[“AzovConcord”)queestavaàesperahádiasdeixouoportoucraniano”disseoministérionumadeclaraçãocitadapelaagênciafrancesaAFP
The ministry added that it was “the first foreign ship to leave the Ukrainian port of Mariupol,” which has been under Russian control since May, as part of the invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
A four-way meeting with representatives from the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine will be held in the “next weeks” in Turkey Ankara said that the regulation of grain transportation through the Black Sea.
The Russian government said, in a statement issued in Moscow, that two delegations from the Russian and Turkish Defense Ministries negotiated the lifting of the Ukrainian ports’ ban on grain exports and ways to ensure the safety of navigation in the Black Sea.
“The two sides discussed the issue of the safe departure of Turkish merchant ships and the export of grain from Ukrainian portsAs well as approaches to ensure the safety of navigation in the Black Sea, “according to the statement carried by the Spanish EFE Agency.
According to the Russian news agency TASS, five ships from Bulgaria, the Dominican Republic, Liberia, Panama and Jamaica are still in the port of Mariupol.
Russia has said it is ready to ensure the safe departure of grain ships from Ukraine through the Black Sea once the ports have been cleared and corridors established to allow transit.
Moscow says it is Ukraine, not Russia, that has undermined the portswhich controls most of the terminals overlooking the Sea of Azov in southern Ukraine, with the exception of the largest in Odessa on the Black Sea.
Off the coast of Odessa, Russia maintains warships that block the passage of merchant ships.
Ukraine demands viable guarantees that Russia will not use any demining to attack Odessa.
Turkey, which has mediated between Russia and Ukraine to allow the export of Ukrainian grain, believes that demining does not have to take place, only identifying mines and using Ukrainian locomotives to make the roads safe.
The West accuses Russia of causing food shortages worldwide to ease sanctions imposed on it since it invaded Ukraine on February 24.
According to the British magazine The Economist, Ukraine and Russia supply the world with 28% of wheat, 29% of barley, 15% of corn and 75% of sunflower oil.
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