Erdogan’s talk with Putin will result in contacts with Zelenskyy – Kuleba

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is convinced that following Erdogan’s conversation with Putin, the presidents of Turkey and Ukraine will have contacts and discuss what was discussed in Sochi. He said this at a press conference, according to a Suspilne correspondent.

He noted that the meeting between Erdogan and Putin in Sochi without the participation of Ukraine does not mean that they are talking without Ukraine.

“Ukraine is like the shadow of Hamlet’s father, we are always present. My colleague, Mr. Hakan Fidan, was in Kyiv, we had very remarkable conversations, then he went to Moscow, we absolutely understand the general logic of the discussion. Our position is very simple: the Black Sea Grain Initiative must be restored, and secondly, it must be restored not by fulfilling the whims and blackmail of the Russian Federation, because the Russians had no legal political grounds to withdraw from the agreement,” he said.

According to the minister, if we make concessions to Russia now, they will come back and in a month they will come out again and put forward new demands.

“And third, in parallel, given that Russia cannot be trusted, we need to develop alternative sea corridors to the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Ukraine is successfully doing this, and you know about the ships that have been launched,” Kuleba said.

He is convinced that Erdogan’s conversation with Putin will result in contacts between the presidents of Turkey and Ukraine.

“President Zelenskyy and President Erdogan have a trusting relationship, and I am convinced that following the conversation with Putin, contacts will take place between President Erdogan and President Zelenskyy, and they will discuss in detail what was discussed and what they agreed to, if they agreed, in Sochi,” Kuleba said.

The Foreign Minister believes that even if Russia returns to the Black Sea grain corridor, it will still sabotage its functioning.

“Instead of ten ships, it will inspect 2-3. Even if they come out and say that we are returning (to the “grain corridor” – ed.), they can simply pull the strings inside and slow down its functioning. That is why Ukraine insists on developing an alternative corridor,” he said.

According to Kuleb, there is a technical possibility for this, but the security capability needs to be further strengthened.

“We have already shown that it works, we see countries showing interest in helping us organize the functioning of this corridor on a stable basis,” the minister said.

He also noted that Ukraine will react negatively if the UN seeks to lift some sanctions in order to restore the grain deal with Russia.

“The UN itself does not impose sanctions, but the truth is that the UN has signed a memorandum with Russia, and some things are written there, and the UN is trying to help other actors. But it’s nonsense,” Kuleba said.

According to the minister, it is not about sanctions, but about the specific business interests of specific Russian officials, high-ranking officials from Putin’s inner circle.

“No one should be fooled into thinking that by doing this we are worried about an African who will buy cheaper bread or even have access to it. By specifically solving the problem of Rosselkhozbank, people are helping person X in Putin’s entourage regain access to the cache. That’s the whole story, everything else is an attempt to manipulate someone,” he said.

Tags: Ukraine, Black Sea grain deal