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Ankara, Kiev satisfied with work of Istanbul Center on grain export — defense ministry

The sides exchanged views on the humanitarian assistance and grain supplies

ANKARA, September 11. /TASS/. Turkish National Defense Minister Hulusi Akar held telephone talks with Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov and Minister of Ifrastructure Alexander Kubrakov, the Turkish defense ministry said on Sunday.

"The sides exchanged views on the humanitarian assistance and grain supplies. They expressed satisfaction with the work of the Joint Coordination Center [in Istanbul]. They also stressed that humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian people will be continued," it said.

Addressing a plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum on September 8, Putin noted that nearly all the grain, which was exported from Ukraine, went to European Union countries and only two out of 87 ships with grain headed to the poorest countries. He also touched upon this topic at a meeting with permanent members of the Russian Security Council on Friday.

A package of documents geared to resolve the problem of food and fertilizer supplies on global markets was signed on July 22 in Istanbul. One of the documents envisages a mechanism of exporting grain from Ukraine-controlled Black Sea ports. An agreement between Russia, Turkey and the United Nations provides for the establishment of a four-side coordination center to search ships carrying grain to prevent weapons smuggling and avoid provocations. The United Nations’ task is to ensure the export of two to five million tonnes of food a month.