New hope for grain deal

SGGP August 29, 2023 09:25

On August 28, Sputnik news agency quoted a source related to the grain deal negotiation process as saying that the United Nations and Türkiye are exploring the opportunity to hold negotiations on this issue with the Russian delegation in Istanbul, Turkey.

Cargo ship PRIMUS on the Black Sea on August 27. Photo: AP

Consider all possibilities

On the same day, a diplomatic source in Turkey revealed that a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan was planned in Sochi, Russia on September 4. President Erdogan intends to raise the issue of resuming the Black Sea grain deal. In addition, the establishment of a gas center and the construction of the Akkyu nuclear power plant in Turkey could also be the main topics of the meeting. The Turkish newspaper Milliyet said that it is likely that UN, Russian and Turkish officials will negotiate the Black Sea Grain Initiative in Istanbul. If this event is successful, negotiations with the participation of Ukraine may follow.

The Turkish government is currently studying three scenarios for the Black Sea grain deal, which was suspended on July 17. The first scenario assumes that the parties cannot find a compromise solution, leading to a more serious food crisis that threatens the interests of Russia, Ukraine and the United States. The second scenario considers the possibility of unilaterally creating alternative routes for agricultural supplies, including the transportation of Ukrainian grain via the Danube River, or land routes to Europe. The third scenario assumes the resumption of the Black Sea grain corridor in the same format, as soon as certain Russian demands are met. According to the local newspaper Yeni Şafak, this is the most beneficial outcome for all parties and will help avoid a more serious food crisis at the global level.

Temporary corridor

Meanwhile, Ukraine is considering using a newly tested Black Sea grain export corridor to transport goods along the western shore of the Black Sea, near Romania and Bulgaria. A second civilian cargo ship has left the southern port of Odessa and moved to safe waters, the Ministry of Reconstruction of Ukraine said on August 27. “The Liberian-flagged cargo ship PRIMUS, owned by a Singaporean operator, has left the port of Odessa. This is the second ship to use the temporary corridor for civilian ships,” the announcement said. The ship is carrying steel products to Africa. On the social network X, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said that the PRIMUS ship had been anchored in the port of Odessa since February 20 last year, before the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out.

According to the Ukrainian Navy, the new temporary humanitarian corridor will be operational from August 10. The Ukrainian Navy said that the corridor will be used by commercial ships stranded in Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea, carrying goods such as grain and other agricultural products. The transportation activities on the new corridor will be recorded by a camera system installed on the ships, and broadcast to show that this is purely a “humanitarian mission” and has no military purpose.

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