Cavusoglu discloses details of plan to create corridors for grain exports from Ukrainian ports

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said this at a news conference with British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in Ankara on Thursday.

“There is a UN plan to export grain from Ukraine. We continue our efforts together with the UN. We are in contact with both Ukraine and Russia. We see this UN plan as realistic, so we strongly support it. We also consider this process important from the point of view of legitimacy,” Cavusoglu said.

According to him, the plan foresees the creation of a safety zone for the movement and inspection of ships.

“A safety zone will be set up near the Ukrainian territorial waters, where ships bound for Ukrainian ports will also be inspected to make sure that weapons or something similar is not being transported,” Cavusoglu said.

The minister said that a meeting on technical issues would be held in Istanbul, but its date was not yet known.

“We are very clear that this grain crisis is urgent, that it needs to be solved within the next month. […] The United Kingdom is offering our expertise on all of those fronts to make sure that we have measures in place so that grain can safely leave, but it is going to require an international effort,” Truss said.

Cavusoglu also said that Turkey would not allow grain stolen from Ukraine to enter his country.

“We are against the illegal sale of Ukrainian grain to international markets by Russia or another country,” he said.