Russian foreign minister visits Turkey to discuss Ukraine grain exports

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tueday began his two-day visit to Turkey for talks over unblocking grain export from Ukraine. Food grain exports from Ukraine are currently facing hurdles due to ongoing Russian invasion. Ukraine is often called 'breadbasket of Europe' and stalled grain exports are likely to cause a wider food crisis in the world.

Lavrov was forced to cancel a visit to Serbia on Monday after several of its neighbours prevented his plane from passing through their airspace.

Following the request of United Nations, Turkey has agreed to provide services to escort maritime convoys from ports of Ukraine. There are mines in the waterways. Some of them have been detected near the Turkish coast.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergeo Lavrov is accompanied by a military delegation and he is due to meet his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday.

This is Lavrov's second Turkey visit. On March 10, he met Cavusoglu and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

Negotiations will mainly circle around opening of a security corridor in order to ship grains from Ukraine.

An agreement between Ankara and Kyiv was hinted by Turkish Agriculture Minister Vahit Kirisci, said local media.

"But they (Ukrainians) have a dilemma about security and export. They want us to be the arbitrator here as Turkey. Negotiations continue under the auspices of the UN," he was quoted as saying.

"Both Russia and Ukraine trust us."

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement it "appreciates Turkey's efforts aimed at unblocking Ukrainian ports" but added that "for the moment there is no agreement on this point between Ukraine, Turkey and Russia."

"Decisions must be taken with the participation of all parties concerned", the ministry said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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