Delegations of the Russian and Turkish Defense Ministries negotiated on Tuesday in Moscow the release of Ukrainian ports for the export of grain and the ways to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea.
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“The parties discussed the safe departure of Turkish merchant ships and the export of grain from Ukrainian ports, as well as approaches to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
He added that the two delegations also highlighted the importance of bilateral interaction, “which made it possible to ensure the departure of the Turkish general cargo ship ‘Azov Concorde’ from the port of Mariupol.”
The official TASS agency reported the day before that the Turkish ship was the first foreign ship to leave the Russian-occupied Ukrainian port and that the captain, Ivan Babenkov, said that the “Azov Concorde” was not carrying cargo.
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According to this agency, five foreign ships remain in the port of Mariupol, including “Tsarvena”, from Bulgaria; the “Azbug” from the Dominican Republic; the “Smarta” from Liberia; the “Blue Star” from Panama, and the Lady Agusta from Jamaica.
According to a Russian commander, the “Tsarevna” is about to complete the necessary technical preparations and documentation to depart from Mariupol.
Grain exports, in suspense
As for the export of blocked Ukrainian grain, Russia insists that it is ready to ensure the safe departure of ships with grain from Ukraine through the Black Sea once the ports have been cleared and corridors have been created to allow transit.
Moscow alleges that it is Ukraine that mined the ports and not Russiawhich controls most of the terminals in the Sea of Azov, in southern Ukraine, except for the largest, in Odessa, on the Black Sea.
However, off the coast of Odessa it has deployed warships that block the passage of merchant ships. For this reason, Ukraine demands viable guarantees that Russia will not take advantage of an eventual demining to attack Odessa.
Turkey, which mediates between Russia and Ukraine to allow the export of Ukrainian grain, believes that it is not necessarily necessary to proceed with demining, but once the position of the midas has been identified, safe routes can be established from three Ukrainian ports and ships, accompanied by Ukrainian tugboats, could enter and leave them.
The Russian and Turkish delegations agreed to continue the consultations, according to Defense.
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