Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has emphasized in a call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu the importance of maintaining the cereal agreement as the United Nations questions Moscow for breaking the pact and the Russian side decides to suspend the movement of ships along the security corridor.
Akar said during the conversation with Shoigu that he expects Moscow to re-evaluate its decision, while stressing that Turkey will continue to work to ensure peace in the region and humanitarian aid at all levels, according to the Anatolia news agency.
On the sidelines of this call, the UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, has questioned the reasons given by Moscow for suspending the grain agreement with Ukraine, which is mediated by the UN and the Turkish side.
«When the Initiative vessels are not in the area, the corridor has no special status,» he said during a meeting of the UN Security Council, adding that there is no «cover or protection» for «both offensive and defensive military actions,» as reported by DPA.
Griffiths was referring to the agreement reached between Ankara and Kiev, without Russia, but with the mediation of the United Nations, whereby twelve ships will leave Ukrainian ports with grain on board, while four others will head for the country.
In this regard, the authorities of both countries have clarified on Monday that there are already six ships sailing in the area, although they have not yet entered the humanitarian corridor. There are currently 21 ships waiting for the go-ahead to transport some 700,000 tons of grain from Ukraine.
Following this, Russia has decided to suspend the movement of ships along the security corridor defined by the Black Sea Initiative until Ukraine clarifies the attack «against warships and civilian vessels in Sevastopol».
«The movement of vessels along the security corridor is unacceptable, as the Ukrainian leadership and the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine use it to conduct military operations against the Russian Federation,» reads the statement, picked up by the TASS news agency.
The Russian Defense Ministry has defended that «it is impossible to guarantee the safety of any object in the grain corridor until Kiev stops using it for military purposes». Moscow has clarified that Russia has not decided to withdraw from the Black Sea Initiative, but only to suspend the agreements.
