The Black Sea grain deal helped prevent a worldwide food crisis, Turkey’s foreign minister said on Saturday, as he outlined Ankara’s “entrepreneurial, humanitarian, and effective” foreign policy during the Russia-Ukraine war.
“With the UN, we implemented the Istanbul grain deal.” “We averted a global food crisis,” tweeted Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Last July, Turkey, the United Nations, Russia, and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which had been halted after the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022, exacerbating global food insecurity.
On the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum on March 10, 2022, Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers met for the first time since the war began, according to Cavusoglu.
Türkiye also assisted in the exchange of prisoners between Moscow and Kiev, as well as facilitating interactions between the Russian State Atomic Energy Agency (ROSATOM) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he noted.
“We have been implementing the Montreux Convention,” he continued, which governs maritime traffic via the Turkish Straits.
Türkiye has received international plaudits for its efforts to end the war, which began in February of last year.