Putin fabricates promise to open Ukrainian ports after Erdogan’s warning

MOSCOW, Russia (BKNN) – Russia claims they are ready to facilitate the export of grain from Ukrainian ports, according to Russian Autocrat Vladimir #Putin said during a telephone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip #Erdogan on Friday.

According to the state ran Kremlin press service, Putin and Erdogan discussed the issues of “ensuring safe navigation in the Black and Azov Seas” and, in particular, the elimination of the alleged mine threat.

Putin issued a statement of his readiness, to coordinate with #Turkey, “to promote the unhindered maritime transit of goods,” including grain. According to Russian State Media, Ukrainian ports allegedly hold an amount in excess of 20 million tons.

On Friday, May 27, Putin discussed the alleged grain issue with Austrian Chancellor Karl #Nehammer and blamed #Kyiv for it. He argued that Ukrainian mines, not the Russian invasion of the #Ukraine, prevented the export of grain.

“Attempts to make Russia responsible for the difficulties with the supply of agricultural products to world markets are unfounded,” Putin said. The next day, he repeated the same position in a conversation with French President Emmanuel #Macron and German Federal Chancellor Olaf #Scholz.

Putin demanded the lifting of sanctions in order to “reduce tension on the global food market.” However, after his demand was not met, the tone of the Russian president became softer in a conversation with Erdogan.

The Turkish President, according to the Daily Sabah, warned Putin about a military operation in northern Syria, from where Russian forces were withdrawn to participate in the campaign in Donbas.

Erdogan reminded Putin that the 2019 Russian-Turkish agreements to create a buffer zone on the border are not being implemented, and Turkey will soon launch an operation to establish a 30 km deep security zone on its own. Its goal is to counter the perceived rebel threat emanating from Syria, Erdogan stressed.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry called the third Turkish operation in the last 6 years an “act of colonial aggression” and accused Erdogan’s army of illegal “ethnic cleansing”. The Kremlin press service did not report on the subject of the Syrian operation.

Before the war, Ukraine and Russia provided almost 30% of the world grain trade. But the supply chains of the Black Sea region turned into chaos after the genocidal invasion began.

If the ports of the Odessa region remain closed, it “would be a declaration of war on global food security, and this would lead to famine, destabilization and mass migration around the world,” David Beasley, executive director of the #UN World Food Program, noted in mid-May.

According to Beasley, the number of hungry people in the world is now in excess of 276 million people, and this figure will likely rise to 323 million if Ukrainian grain does not reach the market.

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