Türkiye is ready to guarantee ships with grain coming from Ukrainian ports unhindered passage through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits.
This was reported by a Turkish television channel, citing sources in the Turkish Ministry of Defense.
What guarantees does Türkiye give?
According to the channel’s sources, not a single ship has yet departed from Ukraine, but if it does, Türkiye will let it through.
Meanwhile, the Turkish portal Elips Haber, citing sources in the Turkish defense department, reports that the first ship has already set off along the new corridor.
On August 16, the container ship Joseph Schulte under the Hong Kong flag left the port of Odessa, where it was located before the start of the Russian special operation, and left the territorial waters of Ukraine. According to the Marine Traffic service, the ship is heading to the Turkish port of Ambarli.
Deputy Head of the Government of Ukraine Alexander Kubrakov said that this ship was the first to use the temporary corridor opened by Kiev from Ukrainian ports.
Let us recall that on August 10, Ukraine announced the opening of temporary corridors in the Black Sea for merchant ships traveling to or from the ports of Odessa, Yuzhny and Chernomorsk.
Kyiv warned that due to the continued threat of military and mine danger on the route, only those ships whose owners and captains officially confirm their readiness to sail in these conditions will be allowed through.
It was argued that the corridors would be used primarily for the exit of civilian ships located in the Black Sea ports of Ukraine since February last year.
The head of the Turkish Ministry of Defense, Yashar Guler, said on August 12 that Ankara is discussing with Kiev and Moscow the return of Turkish ships blocked in Ukrainian ports, but there are no guarantees of this yet. According to the minister, there are 12 Turkish merchant ships in Ukrainian ports, as well as a damaged ship crane.
Later, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that due to the termination of the grain deal from July 20, all ships traveling through the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports will be considered carriers of military cargo, and the flag countries of such ships will be considered involved in the conflict on the side of Kyiv.
The Russian Ministry of Defense also announced the declaration of a number of areas in the southeastern and northwestern parts of the international waters of the Black Sea as temporarily dangerous for navigation.
