Turkey’s balancing act between Russia and Ukraine may have raised its diplomatic profile in the war, but not without dropping some hot potatoes in its lap, as evidenced by Kyiv’s growing pressure on Ankara to help prevent shipments of Ukrainian grain from Russian-occupied regions.
In a move that might set the stage for a fresh crisis on the Turkey-Russia-Ukraine triangle, Turkish authorities halted a Russian-flagged ship off the Black Sea port of Karasu last week, heeding a request from Kyiv, which claims the vessel, Zhibek Zholy, is carrying grain from Russian-occupied territories. Ukraine's ambassador to Ankara, Vasyl Bodnar, made the situation even more delicate for Turkey, lauding “full cooperation” on the part of Turkish authorities, which, he said, had detained the ship.
