A Russian-flagged ship loaded with grain from occupied Ukraine is under investigation off the Turkish port of Karasu. The freighter was intercepted on Sunday in the Black Sea following a complaint from the Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey, who alleges that it is "stolen grain."
The merchant would have sailed four days ago from the port of Berdiansk, in the Sea of Azov, now a Russian lake.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has confirmed that the Zhibek Zholy flies its flag, but that they are studying "whether it is Kazakh-owned and is executing a contract between an Estonian and a Turkish company."
Turkey is also studying with a magnifying glass the origin of these 7,000 tons of cereals. The Austrian Foreign Minister has expressed in Ankara his suspicion that Moscow "had mixed Russian and Ukrainian grain to cover the trail."
A month ago, Russia announced the entry into service of the ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk. And a few days ago, the Russophile authorities of the secessionist provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk welcomed the chartering of the first ship loaded with grain, after eight years deprived of its natural outlet to the sea.
Turkey depends on Russian and Ukrainian wheat, and its inflation is close to 80% per year, so the minimum wage has had to be increased by the same amount.
For this reason, Ankara has the greatest interest in mediating, next week, hand in hand with the UN, so that Kyiv and Moscow agree on a safe maritime corridor for the export of cereals. "We have twenty ships ready," Erdogan said.
