Turkey to develop mechanism addressing grain issue during Lavrov visit
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Amid concerns of a large-scale food crisis since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Turkish FM will touch on the grain issue with his Russian counterpart.
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
Turkey plans to develop a mechanism for addressing the grain issue during a forthcoming visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Ankara, Turkish Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin pointed out on Saturday.
But Kalin noted that the process will take from three to five weeks to be launched.
This comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin told the Rossiya 24 broadcaster on Friday that there are no obstacles to the export of grain from Ukraine.
Putin indicated that ships carrying wheat will be able to leave the Black Sea without any problems if Kiev clears ports of mines.
Turkish newspaper Star quoted Kalin as saying that "during the visit of Mr. Lavrov, we look forward to quickly deal with various aspects of the [grain] issue, make a decision and start the process as soon as possible within the framework of a certain protocol and a memorandum of understanding."
"It will probably take another three or five weeks to launch the process, even if we agree on the main issues," Kalin noted.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will arrive in Ankara on June 8 and is expected to discuss the recent developments in Ukraine and other pressing issues with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
World leaders and international organizations have been raising concerns over an imminent and large-scale food crisis since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, citing disruptions in supply chains and derailed crops production in one of the largest grain producers in the world and calling for unblocking Ukraine's seaports and releasing the grain stuck in warehouses.
It is noteworthy that Russia has denied blocking seaports and has drawn attention to the mines deployed by Ukraine in the Black Sea.
