The Turkish authorities are negotiating with Russia about its return to the "grain agreement". They say there are "reasons for optimism".
Bloomberg writes about this with reference to its own sources.
According to the Turkish official, negotiations with representatives of Russia will continue on Monday.
He emphasized that the ships that have already arrived in Istanbul and are standing in line are being inspected and are moving on. However, new grain carriers have not yet left Ukraine.
The UN Coordination Center for the Black Sea Grain Initiative said late on Saturday that it was "discussing next steps" after Russiaʼs withdrawal from the pact.
- On July 22, Russia signed an agreement on unblocking the export of Ukrainian grain from the ports of Odesa, Pivdenny, and Chornomorsk. The agreement was signed by Ukraine, the Russian Federation, Turkey, and the UN as a mediator. On August 5, the first caravan of ships left the ports of Odesa.
- From the end of September and throughout October, the Ukrainian authorities stated that Russia blocked the export of Ukrainian agricultural products, creating artificial queues in the Bosphorus. Official representatives of Russia have publicly stated several times that the Russian Federation may withdraw from the "grain agreement". The occupiers demanded a guarantee of equal export of grain through the Black Sea and to limit the export directions.
- On October 29, Russia announced its withdrawal from the "grain agreement". She cited the attack of drones on a ship of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol Bay as the reason. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation accused the soldiers of the 73rd Special Center of Maritime Operations of the Armed Forces, who were trained by representatives of the British Navy unit, of this. The same British representatives were accused by the Russian Ministry of Defense of organizing explosions at the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines.
- The operational command "South" and Great Britain rejected the accusations and published a video of the attack on the fleet on social networks. The same footage was distributed by some mass media with reference to sources in the special services. A number of members of the public and researchers report damage to at least three Kalibr cruise missile carriers, but there is no official information about this. Although the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation confirmed only the damage to the minesweeper "Ivan Golubets", in the video, one can see the strike on the frigate "Admiral Makarov", which is the de facto flagship of the Black Sea Fleet after the destruction of the cruiser "Moskva". The occupiers confirmed the damage to the minesweeper "Ivan Golubets". They noted that the ships involved in the "grain" corridor were attacked.