Turkey’s relations with Ukraine are showing increasing signs of strain five months into Russia’s invasion of its Black Sea neighbor. The brewing friction stems from Ukrainian allegations that Russia is stealing its grain and shipping it to Turkey and Ankara’s reluctance to crack down on the illicit trade.

Turkish inaction is a symptom of the deeper malaise besetting the two countries as Ankara seeks to keep ties with the Kremlin steady even as Russian forces continue to commit atrocities against Ukraine. Some accuse Turkey of tilting ever more toward Russia, a view that pro-Kremlin media channels in Ukraine zealously propagate. Turkey insists that it is “pro-Ukraine” but “not anti-Russian.”

In an exclusive interview Wednesday with Al-Monitor, Ukraine’s ambassador to Ankara, Vasyl Bodnar, acknowledged that the grain issue was bedeviling the “strategic partners.”

Tensions escalated today after Ankara allowed a Russian vessel to leave the port of Karasu on the Black Sea. Ukraine summoned Turkey's ambassador to Kyiv to air its displeasure over what Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko called “an unacceptable situation.”