Ambassador Bodnar: Ukraine is counting on Erdogan in the issue of the Grain Agreement

Ukraine relies more on the political influence of the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, than on the negotiations of the participants, regarding the continuation of the Grain Agreement.

Bodnar noted that the Grain Agreement is important both for Ukraine and Turkey, and for many countries of the world to which grain is supplied. However, as noted by the Ambassador of Ukraine to Turkey, Vasyl Bodnar, due to Russia’s actions recently, the agreement is actually not working.

“From a diplomatic point of view, some consultations or negotiations have been proposed and maybe this week or next week – that’s still in question. But, of course, the weight of political influence is much greater. We hope that in this case, President Erdogan will use all his abilities to somehow push Russia to fulfill its obligations,” the diplomat said on the air of the Yedyni Novyni telethon, writes Ukrinform.

He also noted that the demands put forward by the Russian side for the continuation of the grain agreement, for the most part, have nothing to do with the agreement itself, nor with the entities with which it is trying to negotiate.

“Participants of the grain initiative have nothing to do with the sanctions imposed on Russia by the EU and the USA, for example, with the issue of SWIFT or Rosselkhozbank.” In this case, this is Russia’s attempt to show itself from a strong position, which it does not have,” Bodnar said.

Also, in this situation, it is important for Ukraine to have alternative options, which could be the transit of ships through the territorial waters of Romania and Bulgaria.”The only issue that arises in this connection is the issue of ship insurance and its cost, since the successful functioning of the “corridor” itself and the price of transportation depend on the availability of certain security guarantees,” the diplomat summarized