Turkey says lifting of Russian sanctions on grain exports ‘legitimate’

• Turkey and Russia call for an end to sanctions to let Ukrainian grain enter global market.
• Sanctions imposed on Moscow’s financial system have hampered Russian grain and fertiliser exports.
• Cavusoglu offered to organise a meeting to examine the UN plan’s contents in Istanbul.

Turkey’s foreign minister termed Russian requests for an end to sanctions to let grain enter the global market “legitimate” on Wednesday.

“If we need to open up the international market to Ukrainian grain, we see the removal of obstacles standing in the way of Russia’s exports as a legitimate demand,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at a joint press conference in Ankara with his Russian colleague Sergei Lavrov.

Read more: Russia, Turkey discuss Syria, grain exports from Ukraine

On Tuesday, Lavrov landed in Ankara amid dire forecasts of worldwide food shortages, which are being blamed in part on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Turkey has pledged to accompany marine convoys from Ukrainian ports at the request of the United Nations, despite the existence of mines, some of which have been found near the Turkish shore.

Read more: Erdogan calls a halt to Turkey-Greece talks as the schism deepens.