ANKARA, June 15. /TASS/. Moscow, Kiev and Ankara have set up an emergency communication channel through their defense ministries on exporting grain from Ukrainian ports, Turkey’s TRT TV channel reported on Wednesday.

According to the TV channel, the countries will designate their generals to implement the operation of this channel. It was stated that it would be used to discuss the issue of grain exports in greater detail which would help in completing the process.

"We are conducting intensive talks both with Russia and Ukraine. Both sides have concerns and we are working on clearing up these concerns. We are counting on this," the TV channel quoted Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar as saying.

The issue of creating a "grain corridor" was discussed at the June 8 talks in Ankara between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu. Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow had guaranteed the unobstructed passage of vessels containing Ukrainian grain if Kiev demined its ports and could guarantee the exports through the ports controlled by Russia, such as Berdyansk and Mariupol. The Russian president also reiterated that problems on the global food market had started way back in February 2020. He dismissed statements that Russia was allegedly blocking grain in Ukrainian ports as mere bluffing.

The Turkish authorities reported that they could provide security guarantees for the exports of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea. Last week, the TRT TV channel reported, citing sources in Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s administration, that the mechanism to implement a roadmap for Ukrainian grain exports was 80-90% ready and can be swiftly launched if corresponding agreements are reached.