Ukraine, Ankara to confiscate Russian ship with grain

The Turkish authorities could confiscate the wheat transported by the Russian cargo “Zhibek Zholy”, if it is confirmed that it is wheat illegally stolen from Ukraine, said an adviser to the Turkish President, Ilnur Cevik, quoted by the Cumhuriyet newspaper in an article relaunched by the Russian agency Tass. “If that were the case, the grain would be confiscated and put up for sale on international markets in the name of Ukraine,” added Cevik. The Kremlin “knows the rules of the game well and if they are trying to illegally export something that does not belong to them, they also know that it will be confiscated”, said Cevik, in the aftermath of Mario Draghi’s visit to Ankara, where the grain issue Ukrainian was one of the topics of discussion with Recep Tayyip Erdogan. On Sunday, the Ukrainian ambassador to Ankara, Vasily Bodnar, had announced Kiev’s request to Turkey for the detention of the Russian cargo ship with Ukrainian grain on board. The ship is anchored off the port of Karasu, but is not seized by the Turkish authorities, guarantees the crew to Tass who underlines the “delicacy” of the situation when trying to open a corridor for the export of grain Ukrainian.