The Türkiye-brokered Black Sea grain export deal will prioritize African countries, as agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Nov. 2.
“The situation in Djibouti, Somalia and Sudan is not good at all. If there is a problem in any other less developed countries, we will carry out shipments to these countries,” Erdoğan said during a live interview.
Meanwhile, six grain ships left Ukraine’s ports on Nov. 3, a day after Russia rejoined a deal to allow exports through the Black Sea, Türkiye’s defense minister said.
“After the resumption of the grain initiative, six ships left Ukrainian ports,” Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said.
Moscow had said on Saturday that it was temporarily pulling out of the grain deal, accusing Ukraine of using a safe shipping corridor established under the agreement to launch a drone assault on its Black Sea fleet.
Türkiye and the United Nations – who brokered the July deal – engaged in intense diplomacy to save the agreement designed to ease global food crisis caused by the Russian war in Ukraine.
Russia’s defense ministry said on Wednesday it had received sufficient guarantees from Kyiv that it would not use the maritime corridor to carry out attacks.
Hurriyet Daily News