Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday a mechanism is needed to permanently ensure the safety of commercial maritime transport in the Black Sea before a grain crisis escalates.
Earlier this week, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Turkey had prepared a plan for the safe passage of grain via the Black Sea, and that it was in contact with both Russia and Ukraine regarding it.
Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks on Tuesday in Bishkek on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, and Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Putin had discussed the situation in the Black Sea with Erdogan.
In remarks to journalists on his return flight from the trip to Kyrgyzstan, Erdogan said a grain crisis had resurfaced particularly in Africa, and action needed to be taken before the problem escalated further, according to a transcript shared by his office on Wednesday.
"The safety of all civilian maritime transportation in the Black Sea is important to us. The fighting between parties should not escalate to a point where it undermines the safety of civilians and commercial life," Erdogan said.
"We need to resolve this issue," he added.
In July 2022 Turkey and the United Nations helped mediate the so-called Black Sea Grain Initiative to allow the safe export of nearly 33 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea, despite the war.
However, Russia withdrew from the agreement in 2023, complaining that its own food and fertiliser exports faced serious obstacles.
In comments on recent efforts to reach a deal, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said on Wednesday that Moscow sees no grounds for the Black Sea grain agreement to resume.
(Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever and Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Daren Butler)
