Grain сorridor: Ukraine confirms talks in Istanbul

Security issues will remain a key element of Ukraine’s position at the meeting of Ukraine, the UN, Turkey, and Russia delegations on July 13.

That’s according to Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, who provided a comment to Ukrinform.

"Ukraine advocates that the issue of unblocking Ukrainian grain be resolved under the UN auspices. In this context, we are grateful to Secretary General Antonio Guterres for his active efforts to find a solution that will guarantee the security of our country’s southern regions," the spokesman emphasized.

Nikolenko noted that a quadripartite meeting involving experts from Ukraine, the UN, Turkey, and Russia had been scheduled to be held in Istanbul on July 13. The parties will discuss the modalities of functioning of maritime corridors for grain exports. At the same time, security issues will remain a key element of the Ukrainian side's position, the diplomat emphasized.

As reported, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced that a meeting of the military delegations of Turkey, Ukraine, and Russia, as well as the UN delegation, regarding the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, will be held in Istanbul on Wednesday, July 13.

Earlier, on July 11, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky held talks with President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The two leaders discussed the importance of unblocking Ukrainian ports and resuming grain exports, as well as preventing Russia from exporting Ukrainian grain from captured territories.