Ukraine targets grain exports breakthrough at four-way talks
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Loading... - Filip Novotny
- 13 Jul 2022
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Ukraine said on Wednesday that an agreement to resume grain exports blocked by Russia appeared close as Turkey hosted four-way talks, raising hopes of an end to a standoff that has exposed millions to the risk of starvation.
Kyiv believed a deal was just "two steps away", Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was quoted as saying before the talks began, though other participants seemed less optimistic, and Turkey's defence ministry gave no details of the meeting's outcome after announcing it had ended.
Several Ukrainian cities meanwhile reported heavy Russian shelling and, while not linking a grain deal to progress in talks to end the war, Kuleba was downbeat on prospects for peace.
More than 20 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain are stuck in silos at the Black Sea port of Odesa and dozens of ships have been stranded due to Russia's blockade, part of what Moscow calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine but which Kyiv and the West say is an unjustified war of aggression.
The talks, in Istanbul between Ukrainian, Russian, Turkish and U.N. officials, took place behind closed doors at an undisclosed location.
Kuleba told Spanish newspaper El Pais ahead of their resumption: "We are two steps away from a deal with Russia. We are in the final phase and now everything depends on Russia."
Igor Konashenkov, a spokesperson for Russia's defence ministry, said Moscow had put forward proposals to resolve the grain issue as soon as possible. Read More...
