Erdogan says Russian invasion of Ukraine ‘not acceptable’
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is in Ankara today to try and broker a deal as ships loaded with Ukrainian grain and oil remain stuck in the country due to Black Sea blockades formed by Russian vessels. But despite the urgent need to avert a food crisis, Ukraine is concerned about the prospect of Turkey striking a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said: “This is the same Putin who told German Chancellor [Olaf] Scholz and French President [Emmanuel] Macron he would not attack Ukraine — days before launching a full-scale invasion of our country.”
He added: “We can not trust Putin, his words are empty.”
And Ukraine is not the only country that has expressed concern.
The US is also wary of a Russia-Turkey deal.
A US official warned: “It’s hard to view the Russian offers in good faith considering how they are actively and intentionally destroying food products in Ukraine and exacerbating global food insecurity.”
Millions of tonnes of agricultural exports are currently waiting to be loaded onto ships for export, with grain and oil storage silos also full across the country.
Not only is the port city of Odesa blockaded, but the city of Mariupol has been also been battered by the invasion.
Together, these cities accounted for 90 percent of Ukraine’s grain exports to the rest of the world before the Russian invasion in mid-February.
This sparked fears of a global food crisis, as Russia and Ukraine account for about a third of global wheat supplies.
As Ukraine has been laying naval mines to prepare for a Russian attack, one option which Turkey is considering is to offer its help in demining the waters around Odesa.
These would have to be removed before freight traffic could restart.
In return, Turkey says it would ask Putin not to use those trade routes to attack the port city.
The Turkish Defence Ministry said on Tuesday that Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar had evaluated “all measures that can be taken regarding the safe shipment of grains, sunflower, and all other agricultural products”.
But efforts to open a safe corridor for Ukrainian grain shipments have also been supported by the UN, which is also trying to broker a deal for exports to restart.
Russia has said that it will not lift the blockade unless Western sanctions are lifted, which it appears to want as part of the deal.
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But world leaders may be more sceptical about a deal being struck with Turkey.
That is because the country has not joined the West in sanctioning Moscow.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has argued that “we cannot put aside our relations with Russia”.
Turkey has also not closed its airspace to Russia to Russian aircraft.
Mr Erdogan and Putin have a close but complex relationship, as Turkey is an ally of Russia but also of Ukraine and is a NATO member.
This also comes after Kyiv’s ambassador to Ankara said last Friday that Turkish buyers had been receiving grain that Russia had illegally shipped out of Crimea.
Ambassador Vasyl Bodnar said: “Russia is shamelessly stealing Ukrainian grains and getting it out from the invaded Crimea. These grains are being shipped to foreign countries, including Turkey.
“We have made our appeal for Turkey to help us and, upon the suggestion of the Turkish side, are launching criminal cases regarding those stealing and selling the grains.”
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