Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan have agreed that Ankara will try to help in demining Ukrainian ports, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a news conference on Wednesday, wrapping up his visit to Saudi Arabia, according to TASS.
The Russian foreign minister underscored that the demining operation should be conducted without any attempts to bolster Ukraine’s military potential or to harm Russia.
In their phone conversation on May 30, Putin and Erdogan talked about the situation in Ukraine, focusing on safe navigation in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov and the elimination of the mine threat in their waters. The Russian leader, as the Kremlin said, spoke about Moscow’s willingness to facilitate unimpeded maritime transit of goods in coordination with Turkey. The same refers to grain exports from Ukrainian ports.