Turkey says it has Black Sea grain plan and is in contact with Russia, Ukraine

Turkey has ​prepared a plan for ​the safe passage ‌of grain ​via the Black Sea and is in contact with both Russia ‌and Ukraine regarding it, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Monday. Turkey has repeatedly expressed willingness to revive a U.N.-brokered ‌deal that got grain out of Ukraine ‌during wartime.

"We have prepared a plan and we are in contact with both sides regarding this plan," Fidan told a ⁠press ​conference in Istanbul. "If ⁠the necessary conditions emerge, we are working in particular to ⁠achieve another agreement similar to the grain deal." Turkey and the ​United Nations helped mediate the so-called Black Sea Grain ⁠Initiative which was agreed in July 2022 to allow the ⁠safe ​export of nearly 33 million metric tons of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea, despite ⁠the war.

Russia withdrew from the agreement in 2023, complaining ⁠that its own ⁠food and fertiliser exports faced serious obstacles.