Turkish defense chief believes issue of export corridors for Ukrainian grain close to being resolved

Turkey’s top defense official suggests that the solution to the issue of opening a path for the export of grain from Ukraine is close to being reached as Ankara is making efforts so that the interested parties meet remotely or face-to-face.

As Ukrinform reports, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar spoke of this in an interview with Haber Global.

"We are in contact with Russia, Ukraine, and the UN to find a solution. We are close to solving the grain corridor issue. It is about 20-25 million tonnes of grain. We have established serious contacts with interested parties," the minister said.

According to the top defense official, Turkey is making efforts to discuss and find solutions in a quadrilateral format (UN, Ukraine, Turkey, and Russia).

"We want these meetings to be held remotely or face-to-face in the coming days, and we are making efforts to find a reasonable and logical solution to the issue during talks," Akar said.

He also noted Turkey’s continued humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

"We are making efforts to have the fire ceased as soon as possible. We have provided humanitarian aid to Ukraine from the very beginning and continue to do so. We strive to improve the humanitarian situation," the minister said.

He also emphasized that Turkey does not recognize and will not recognize the illegal occupation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, and that it respects and supports the territorial and political integrity of Ukraine.

As Ukrinform reported, on June 6, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said that the negotiations regarding the opening of grain corridors were ongoing, and that there were several important steps that were not easy to reach an agreement on, in particular, about security guarantees for Ukraine.