Erdogan: We have about 20 ships in the region ready to take grain from Ukraine

Turkey continues its diplomatic efforts to open corridors for Ukrainian grain export. There are about 20 ships in the region ready to carry out this mission.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this at a press conference following the NATO summit in Madrid, Ukrinform reports.

"We will continue maintaining telephone diplomacy with Mr. putin and Mr. Zelensky. We have a road map, the implementation of which has begun. We will try to launch this corridor as soon as possible. We have about 20 ships in the region ready to take grain from Ukraine. We will continue to ensure the unloading and delivery of products to third countries," Erdogan said.

According to Erdogan, he intends to hold the next telephone conversations with the President of Ukraine and the President of russia at the end of this week or at the beginning of the next.

To recap:

russia is blocking the Black Sea. Because of this, Ukraine cannot export its food by sea. russia also accuses the West of raising food prices due to sanctions against it.

Earlier, Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Senik said that during the naval blockade of russia, Ukraine has established two channels for grain exports: through Poland and Romania. Ukraine is also negotiating with the Baltic states.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that his country had offered to contribute to resolving the global food crisis caused by russia's blockade of Ukrainian ports.

Read Rubryka's Timeline of War: current news on Ukraine's defense against russia's aggression.