Turkey's FM responds to claims about illegal trade of Ukraine's grain

Photo: AA

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Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has denied the claims that Turkey is involved in the illegal trade of Ukraine's grains.

The country investigated the country of origin of all mentioned products and they were labeled Russian, Çavuşoğlu said during a joint press conference in Ankara, the capital, with his counterpart from the UK, Liz Truss.

Turkey is against the illegal buying and selling of Ukrainian grain by any country, including but not limited to Russia and to be sold to other countries.

Turkey has "full determination" on the matter and will not allow entry of such grain, Çavuşoğlu said.

Supporting the UN efforts, Turkey is trying to solve the grain issue with Russia and Ukraine, he added.

Ukraine's envoy to Turkey in early June said Turkey was among the countries where the grain "stolen" from his country was sold. Vasil Bodnar had asked for Ankara's support to identify and capture the people who are responsible for the sales and shipments of the grain.

The "grain corridor"

Noting that there is a UN plan about how to export grain from Ukraine, Çavuşoğlu said a "control center" will be established for the grain corridor if the two sides reach an agreement in a meeting to be held in İstanbul soon.

"If an agreement is signed in İstanbul, then there would be a control center to be established as a safe zone out of the Ukrainian territorial waters of will be established," he remarked.

For her part, the UK Foreign Secretary Truss said the UK and Turkey work together to get the grain out of Ukraine.

Hailing Turkey's "leading role" in opening a grain export corridor from Ukraine, Truss stressed the urgency of the grain crisis, adding that it will have devastating consequences if not solved within the next month. (SD/VK)