Erdogan to hold trilateral talk with Putin, Zelenskyy for ‘grain corridor’ from Black Sea

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday, June 12, said that his ministration plans to hold a trilateral dialogue with Russian leer Vlimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Vlimir Zelenskyy as early as next week for safe passage of Ukrainian grain export from blocked Black Sea ports. In  footage released to press by his presidential office regarding a meeting with Turkish youth, Erdogan affirmed that he will broker talks with Russia and Ukraine to establish a safe corridor for shipments of agricultural products in wake of global food crisis and record inflation. 

"re is a war going on between Ukraine and Russia, and we know that agricultural products come from se countries to a large extent,” Turkish Presdient Erdogan was heard stating to members who convened meeting.

"At this stage, we have no problems with this, we have 5 million tons of wheat in our warehouses, but we would like to increase se volumes,” he went on to iterate. 

Turkey to grain shipment out 'not only for ourselves but also for third world nations'

Erdogan affirmed that Ankara will “take part in work” to get stranded grain shipment out, “not only for ourselves but also for third world developing countries.” "Negotiations are ongoing. In coming week we will discuss with Zelenskyy and Putin what steps can be taken,” he said in footage, accessed by Moscow’s state-affiliated agency Tass. This comes just days after Kremlin asserted that re has been no agreement reached with Turkey to establish corridor for transit of Ukrainian grain bound for export to international markets. Putin's spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told state-affiliated reporters that while talks between Moscow and Ankara are continuing on grain shipments from Black Sea, no official agreement h been reached yet. 

In a separate meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Ankara, Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu h proposed that discussions are ongoing with Russian delegation on  United Nations' proposal to free Ukrainian grain from blocked Odesa and or key ports in Black Sea. Russia will allow 22 million tonnes of grain that has been sitting in silos to be shipped out, claimed Cavusoglu at state presser. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been working on a package for weeks that would enable Ukraine to export wheat and or major commodities from Odesa. 

Guterres’ plan also involves Russia exporting grain and fertilizer to global markets. UN Chief has refused to divulge exact details of arrangement, saying that it would “jeopardize plan’s chances of success.”