Turkey does not leave attempts to resume the dialogue between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, and also expresses its readiness to provide platforms for these negotiations, Ukrainian Ambassador to Turkey Vasily Bodnar said.
“Now Turkey does not leave attempts to resume this dialogue, they express their readiness to provide platforms for these negotiations. Today’s meeting (of the Foreign Ministers of Turkey and Russia – IF) was also aimed at finding common ground for continuing these negotiations. What was publicly stated says that they are more focused on the communication of the parties, that there is a readiness for a possible resumption, and for their part they declare their readiness to contribute to this,” Bodnar said at a briefing at the Ukraine media center on Wednesday.
He added that “so far there is no talk of any specific steps towards this, since it should be clear what conditions which side is expressing.”
“Our immediate condition is the withdrawal of Russian troops. Then the negotiations may have a chance of success and end with the signing of a certain document. Otherwise, the so-called theory of “peace in exchange for territories” does not work for us. And the Turkish side understands this very well, at least trying to find out now the position of the Russian side and help in the resumption of this dialogue,” Bodnar said.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky says that neither he nor Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba were invited to a meeting in Ankara on June 8, which will, in particular, consider the issue of Black Sea shipping and which will be attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs RF Sergey Lavrov.
“I was not invited. The Minister of Foreign Affairs has not been invited to date,” Zelensky said during a conversation with reporters on Monday, answering a related question.
According to him, he discussed with Turkish President Recemop Tayyip Erdogan, among others, the issue of mediation by the Turkish side in unblocking Ukrainian ports.
“For us, it is important that we are ready to produce grain… For us (important – IF) that there is a safe corridor of ships – that this or that fleet of this or that state will ensure the export of this grain to us. That’s all. And here we talked both with Britain and Turkey. Turkey is now finding a format to give us guarantees… I think because of this they are meeting with the Russians so that Russia will give Turkey guarantees that nothing will happen to their ships. I think so. But, however, the details of their meeting are unknown to me yet,” Zelensky said.
The President also said that negotiations on the export of grain are being held with the UN, as well as with the Baltic countries and Poland – on the export of some volume by rail, but this direction is not a priority due to the long delivery times. Through Odessa ports, according to him, Ukraine can export 10 million tons of grain monthly. “If now we have 22-25 million tons blocked there, but in the fall we may already have 75. What are we going to do? Therefore, we won’t be able to do without ports,” Zelensky stressed.
When asked under what conditions Ukraine can go for demining the coast of Odessa ports and who should be the guarantor for the Ukrainian side to do this, he replied: “I consider the strongest guarantee is our appropriate weapons that will be deployed in the region, the unblocking of another corridor to the port for the export of grain”.
“We are working on this with specific states, with specific anti-ship systems. We are working and are already getting a little, I can already state. I think this is the best guarantee,” Zelensky added.
Representatives of Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the UN will gather in Istanbul in the coming days to discuss a plan of action on the situation around problems with grain exports, the Turkish Anadolu agency reports, citing its own data.
“The details of the road map will be discussed in the coming days during the meeting, which will be attended by Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and UN representatives,” the statement said.
According to Anadolu, the meeting will consider issues related to “insurance and security of ships, as well as demining the region.”
The agency indicates that it is planned to create a coordination center in Istanbul, which “should allow sending about 20 million tons of grain and sunflower seeds from Russia and Ukraine to world markets.”
Ukraine is in the process of finding a state that could provide consular services to Ukrainian citizens forcibly deported to the Russian Federation, said the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Lyudmila Denisova.
“We need a foreign state that will provide consular services to our citizens. We are working on this,” the ombudsman told Interfax-Ukraine at the Russia War Crimes House exhibition in Davos during the World Economic Forum.
According to her, in particular, Ukraine has appealed to Switzerland on this issue, but due to a number of circumstances it cannot fulfill this function.
Denisova also said that Russia’s stated data on the export of 1.347 million citizens of Ukraine, including more than 240 thousand. children, grow every day and were not fake.
The ombudsman stressed that she had reliable information that Russia was preparing for such an operation in advance.
“I have already received confirmations and evidence – materials from the Russian Federation – and there is clearly defined with signs the readiness of temporary accommodation of Ukrainians on February 21. That is, they sent directives from top to bottom… That is, they prepared in advance, I think they began to prepare in 2021, “said Denisova.
She clarified that these directives went from the Ministry of Emergencies, then to the federal districts, from there to the regions, and then to the cities.
“Then I have information that they collected at 4 am on April 29 how much was filled and how much was still free: 1200 or so was on April 29 and 33% was free. I think they will get up to 2 million,” said the ombudsman. .
According to her, it is a question of sending even to the territories furthest from Ukraine, for example, to the Yamal-Nenets district.
Denisova said that the Ukrainian side is cooperating with Russian citizens – volunteer organizations that raise funds to help deported Ukrainian citizens, because many of them do not have documents, things, “and no one talks about money at all.”
According to her, there used to be contacts with the Russian ombudswoman, but she believes that “you are all lying”, so now these contacts do not work.
The Commissioner of the Rada noted that attempts are being made at various levels, including the private one, to deport Ukrainian citizens from the Russian Federation.
“We are provided with lists of citizens who want to leave. We check Ukrainian citizenship and send it to the consulate in Narva. Volunteers buy tickets, they (Ukrainian citizens) come to Narva and cross it (border), and meet them in Estonia,” she said. the state of affairs of Denisov.
At the same time, she stressed that it is impossible to evacuate a significant number of people in this way, so it is literally hundreds.
In this regard, the Ombudsman recalled the clear resolution of the UN Human Rights Council of May 12, which calls for the forced deportation of Ukrainian citizens to Russia and the requirement to allow international human rights organizations, as well as provide an opportunity to return to Ukraine. Denisova added that a similar resolution was recently adopted by the European Parliament.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock said that dialogue between countries is always important, but now there are no platforms for communication with the Russian Federation.
“There should always be dialogue,” she said on Sunday in Berlin following an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers, answering a question.
According to her, NATO, as a transatlantic alliance, stands for a world order based, among other things, on dialogue. But at present, she claims, there are no platforms for communication with the Russian Federation. The last platform was the OSCE format.
Burbock believes that “even this last dialogue platform was liquidated by the Russian side.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (MFA) strongly condemns the Russian Federation’s actions in disposing of grain that was illegally seized from Ukrainian farmers.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine strongly condemns the Russian Federation’s actions in disposing of grain that was illegally seized from Ukrainian farmers. Russian occupants are stealing Ukrainian grain and either consuming it themselves or attempting to sell it on international markets. The plunder of food supplies from the territory of an independent sovereign state is one of the aspects of looting,” the MFA said in a comment posted on the website on Wednesday.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine warned consumer countries that grain consignments exported by Russia could contain stolen grain obtained as a result of Russian occupation authorities’ plundering. Any country that knowingly purchases stolen grain is considered to be complicit in the crime.”
According to existing information, the occupants have already seized at least 400-500 thousand tons of grain worth more than $100 million, according to the Ukrainian government. It is known that “almost all grain-laden ships departing from Sevastopol transport stolen Ukrainian commodities.”
“The criminal seizure, export and consumption of Ukrainian is another example of Russia’s destructive acts, which, in particular, contravene the fundamental principles of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) – achieving food security for all and overcoming hunger,” the ministry emphasizes.
In addition, “the aggressor state’s policy puts into doubt the relevance of its participation in FAO and other international organizations.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine demands that Russia stop illicit grain stealing, unblock Ukrainian ports, restore freedom of navigation, and allow trade ships to pass.
“We urge the international community to strengthen economic sanctions against Russia in order to stop its military aggression against Ukraine, to avert a humanitarian disaster and the world’s food security crisis,” the ministry said.
