Turkey's Fidan says no solution without Russia to grain deal impasse

Ezgi Akin

Jul 21, 2023

A photograph taken on October 31, 2022 shows a cargo ship loaded with grain being inspected in the anchorage area of the southern entrance to the Bosphorus in Istanbul. - Cargo ships loaded with grain and other agricultural products left Ukrainian ports on october 31, 2022 despite Russia's decision to pull out from a landmark deal designed to ease a global food crisis. As one of the brokers of the grain deal, Turkey has stepped up diplomacy with the two warring countries in a bid to save it as Russia warned — A photograph taken on October 31, 2022 shows a cargo ship loaded with grain being inspected in the anchorage area of the southern entrance to the Bosphorus in Istanbul. — Ozan Kose/AFP via Getty Images

ANKARA — Turkey’s top diplomat Hakan Fidan dismissed on Friday Kyiv’s offers to ship Ukrainian grain without an agreement with Russia, saying any option that excludes Moscow would "likely endanger security."

Speaking at a joint presser with his Venezuelan counterpart Yvan Gil, Fidan also said Turkey and the United Nations are on the same page on the issue.

“There are efforts on the Ukrainian side to bring alternative solutions. As Turkey, we frankly believe that Russia should be brought back to the table again. We believe any solutions other than that will be far fetched and will highly likely endanger security,” Fidan said.

His remarks came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tabled on Monday an alternative solution to ship foodstuff from his country to world markets via Romanian, Bulgarian and Turkish waters in the Black Sea. Following the offer, Moscow designated northwest and southeast of the Black Sea as “temporarily dangerous” for shipping.