Türkiye and UN to organise Black Sea ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine

Türkiye and the United Nations are arranging new talks between Russia and Ukraine to discuss a Black Sea ceasefire in an attempt to bring together scattered efforts to protect grain shipments amid soaring global food prices.

Source: Bloomberg, citing a senior diplomat, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The talks will prioritise the concerns of countries hit by rising food prices.

The initiative aims to replicate a successful 2022 campaign to secure grain shipping in the Black Sea.

A senior diplomat said the meetings will take place in early October. Envoys from the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Swiss NGO, will serve as mediators, the diplomat added.

The talks are gathering momentum as Russia and Ukraine, which account for more than a quarter of the world's wheat shipments, are intensifying their attacks on each other's Black Sea port facilities, contributing to a rise in wheat futures to a three-year high in August. The attacks are increasing concerns about food supply as bad weather is affecting harvests in other regions and prices are hovering around multi-year peaks.

Türkiye and the UN lend credibility to the campaign, since they coordinated the 2022 ceasefire which ensured the safe passage of grain, fertilisers and food from Ukrainian ports. The deal was one of the few cases in which a limited truce has held for some time.

During the UN General Assembly in late September, a closed-door meeting took place to launch the diplomatic initiative. It was attended by Turkish officials and representatives from the US, Europe, India and Egypt, which has been badly affected by the grain disruptions.

According to a document reviewed by Bloomberg, the attendees discussed a "narrowly defined and reciprocal arrangement" involving free commercial navigation and protection for ports and energy infrastructure.

Background:

• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated in September that a mechanism was needed to ensure the safety of commercial shipping in the Black Sea amid the Russia-Ukraine war.
• In early August, Türkiye called on Russia and Ukraine to take measures to ensure the safety of navigation in the Black Sea after a Turkish-owned vessel was damaged and three crew members were seriously injured in a drone attack near the Russian port of Novorossiysk.
• Following this, Bloomberg reported that Türkiye was restricting the movement of some commercial vessels into the Black Sea.

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