The President of Ukraine V. Zelenskyi said that he discussed the work of the Black Sea grain corridor with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Hakan Fidan, who visited Ukraine for the first time in this position reports Graintrade.
Fidan also plans to discuss the resumption of the grain corridor during his visit to the Russian Federation, but the deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Ryabkov said that the position of the Russian Federation regarding the grain agreement remains unchanged.
Turkish ship stopped by Russian warship
Last week, a Russian warship stopped the Turkish merchant ship “Sukru Okan” bound for Ukraine in neutral waters and inspected it, after which the Turkish Foreign Ministry protested to the Russian side. A few days after that, a 244-meter-long ship heading from the Russian Federation to China unexpectedly got stuck in the Bosphorus, blocking navigation through the strait for a whole day. At the same time, the Turkish authorities closed the passage through the Dardanelles to sea vessels due to forest fires. Such hints by Turkey about control over Russian exports will add arguments in negotiations with the Russian Federation.
Already the second foreign ship left the port of Odessa after the end of the grain agreement proposed by Ukraine for the humanitarian corridor for ships that remained in Ukrainian ports from February 24, 2022, which opens up opportunities for the entry of new ships.
The news about the intentions of Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary to apply to the European Commission with the demand to extend the ban on the import of Ukrainian grain until the end of the year makes Ukraine’s need for sea exports extremely important. The general position of the five listed countries, which will be presented at the next meeting of the Council of the EU, is that they “support surcharges for the transit of Ukrainian grain through the EU, insist on banning the import of grain from Ukraine until the end of the year and offer the possibility of inclusion in the list of prohibited products other goods, for example. Raspberries or sunflower oil, – said the MSG of Poland.
Source: Graintrade