Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday that Ankara was looking into claims that Russian grain had been stolen and shipped to countries including Turkey, but that no stolen shipments had been discovered so far.
In early June, Kyiv’s ambassador to Ankara stated that Turkish buyers were among those receiving grain stolen from Ukraine, adding that he had sought Turkey’s assistance in identifying and apprehending those responsible for the alleged shipments.
Russia has previously denied allegations of grain theft from Ukraine. On Thursday, the Kremlin reiterated that no grain had been stolen. more info
Cavusoglu appeared to deny Ukraine’s claims of stolen grain shipments arriving in Turkey at a news conference with British Foreign Minister Liz Truss in Ankara, saying Ankara had not yet seen any such cases and had informed Kyiv of the outcome of every investigation.
‘We took each claim seriously and conducted investigations based on them. Based on our investigations following claims about Turkey, we discovered that the ships’ port of departure and the origin of the goods are both in Russia ‘he said.
‘We are opposed to Russian or other nations taking Ukrainian grains or other goods and then illegitimately, illegally selling them to international markets, and we, as Turkey, will not allow these goods to come to us,’ Cavusoglu added.
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