A total of six ships left Ukrainian ports after the resumption of the July grain deal and the number of ships leaving the ports now exceeds 426 with over 9.7 million tons of grain, the Turkish defense minister said on Thursday.
"After the resumption of the grain initiative, six ships left Ukrainian ports. Thus, the number of ships leaving the ports exceeded 426 and the amount of grain transported surpassed 9.7 million tons," Hulusi Akar said in the southeastern Hakkari province.
Akar's remarks came a day after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's announcement of Russia's return to the Black Sea grain export deal, which was signed on July 22 between Türkiye, the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine.
However, Russia on Saturday announced that it would suspend its participation in the deal due to Ukrainian attacks on its Black Sea Fleet's ships.
"Now, we will intensify our efforts within the framework determined by our president regarding the extension of the grain initiative, which will expire on Nov. 19th," Akar said.
He added that it is Ankara's "most sincere wish" that the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv ends through peaceful means and methods.
The parties are currently negotiating a possible extension and expansion beyond its Nov. 19 deadline, with Erdoğan saying Ankara is determined to transfer Russian grain and fertilizers to less developed countries.
Erdoğan, in a live broadcast Wednesday night again, reiterated that he conveyed his aims of transporting the grain to less developed countries like Djibouti, Somalia and Sudan. He said they will plan this and will follow the developments from the center established in Istanbul.
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, meanwhile said Thursday that the bloc was "grateful" for the United Nations and Türkiye for their role "in Russia’s decision to return to the Black Sea Grain Initiative."
"Food should never be used as a weapon of war," he wrote on Thursday on Twitter.
"Grain export is crucial to address (the) global food crisis exacerbated by Russia."
He added he was "calling on all parties to renew initiative" which is due to expire on November 19.
Meanwhile, Moscow on Thursday urged the U.N., to help fulfill the parts of the deal intended to ease Russia's food and fertilizer exports.
The current deal is due to expire on Nov. 19, and Moscow has made clear it does not believe enough has been done to ensure that it can export its own huge food and fertilizer output despite the barrage of Western sanctions imposed in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
"We still do not see any results regarding a second aspect: the removal of obstacles to the export of Russian fertilizers and grain," Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference in Amman, Jordan.
"We have once again called on the United Nations Secretary General to ensure that he fulfills the obligations he agreed to through his own initiative," Lavrov added. He said the situation needed to be resolved "in the very near future."
"If we're talking about the volumes of fertilizers and grain in question, then these volumes from the Russian side are incomparably higher than from the Ukrainian side."
Russian agricultural exports do not fall explicitly under sanctions imposed by the U.S., European Union and others, but Moscow says they are badly hindered by the restrictions imposed on its financial, logistics and insurance sectors.
Ukraine has made no new commitments that go beyond the terms of a deal signed in July, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson also said on Thursday.
Spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko wrote on Facebook that Ukraine had never used the Black Sea grain corridor for military purposes, and had never intended to do so.
