Turkey wants to restore the grain corridor in the Black Sea: Ankara has prepared a new plan for Ukraine and Russia

Turkey has prepared a new plan aimed at restoring the safe transportation of grain and other agricultural products through the Black Sea, and is already discussing it with Ukraine and Russia. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated this, UNN reports, citing Reuters.

Official Ankara hopes that, if the parties demonstrate political will, it will be possible to create a mechanism similar to the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which operated in 2022–2023.

Details

According to Fidan, the Turkish side has already developed specific proposals to ensure the safety of navigation and is maintaining contacts simultaneously with Kyiv and Moscow. The Turkish foreign minister made it clear that Ankara is considering the possibility of creating a mechanism that would allow stable grain deliveries through the Black Sea to resume and reduce risks for civilian vessels.

At the same time, details of the Turkish plan have not yet been made public. In particular, it is unknown whether it will provide for the creation of separate safe maritime routes, which Ukrainian ports may be covered by the agreement, who will monitor compliance with the security regime, and whether the United Nations will be involved in the new mechanism. It is also unclear whether the arrangement would concern grain exclusively or whether it could extend to other types of food and commercial cargo.

How Kyiv and Moscow responded to Ukraine's initiative

As of August 31, Ukraine and Russia had not publicly announced their agreement to the mechanism proposed by Ankara. Thus, for now, this concerns a diplomatic initiative and negotiations, rather than an agreement that has already been reached.

Background to the Turkish initiative

Ankara's proposal emerged against the backdrop of a sharp deterioration in the situation concerning navigation in the Black Sea, an increase in attacks on port infrastructure, and growing risks for merchant vessels. As early as the beginning of August, Fidan called on Ukraine and Russia to agree to a mutual cessation of strikes on civilian vessels in the Black Sea. At the time, he said that the war was increasingly affecting commercial navigation, while the security situation in the region posed a threat not only to the parties to the conflict but also to third countries.

Turkey, which controls the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits and has traditionally played an important role in Black Sea trade, has repeatedly offered its mediation services to create safe-navigation mechanisms. Ankara also has a direct economic interest in preserving stable trade routes in the region, since a significant portion of food and raw-material cargo from the Black Sea travels toward Turkish ports or through the straits to the Mediterranean Sea.

How Ukraine proposed ending strikes on civilian facilities

Reuters previously reported that Ukraine, through a mediator, had conveyed to the Russian side a proposal for a mutual cessation of strikes on civilian facilities in the Black Sea. This included, in particular, the possibility of reducing threats to merchant shipping and port infrastructure. However, Russia publicly rejected the idea of a separate Black Sea truce.

In Moscow, attempts were made to link the cessation of attacks on vessels carrying agricultural products to a halt in Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries, pipelines, and other fuel and energy infrastructure facilities.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had previously stated that Kyiv did not agree with this approach. According to him, the issue of a possible restriction on strikes against energy facilities on the territory of Russia could be considered only on a reciprocal basis, if Russia also ceased attacks on Ukraine's energy system.

Therefore, one of the key issues in possible negotiations remains whether the safety of civilian shipping and grain exports can be separated from the broader discussion concerning strikes on energy infrastructure.

Ukraine's exports came under pressure

The deterioration of the security situation in the Black Sea has already significantly affected Ukraine’s ability to export grain. Due to Russian strikes on port and logistics infrastructure, Ukraine has been forced to more actively redirect some cargoes to alternative routes.

These include the Danube ports of Reni and Izmail, rail connections, transit through Moldova, and onward transportation to the Romanian port of Constanța. However, these routes have limited capacity and cannot fully replace the large Black Sea ports. Therefore, at the end of August, the queue of vessels near the Sulina Canal, which is used to access Ukraine’s Danube ports, grew to approximately 80 vessels.

The route’s operation is complicated by congestion, a shortage of pilots, additional inspections, and regular air-raid alerts. As a result, both delivery times and logistics costs are increasing, directly affecting Ukrainian agricultural producers and the competitiveness of Ukrainian grain on the international market.

Why problems have also arisen in Russia

Disruptions to Black Sea logistics are also affecting Russian grain exports.

Against the backdrop of problems with the operation of southern ports, Russian exporters have begun to more actively redirect some cargoes through the Baltic Sea and other routes. However, such logistics are more expensive, while alternative ports cannot fully compensate for the capacity of the Black and Azov seas, through which the majority of Russia’s maritime grain exports traditionally passed. This creates additional costs for exporters and puts pressure on Russia’s domestic agricultural market.

Risks for the global food market

Problems with grain supplies from the Black Sea region are also significant for the global food market, as Ukraine and Russia remain among the largest grain exporters. Countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia remain particularly dependent on Black Sea wheat. Prolonged supply disruptions could lead to higher freight and vessel insurance costs, as well as higher grain prices directly, creating risks of rising food prices for countries that are heavily dependent on imports.

That is why Turkey has once again attempted to establish a separate mechanism to preserve food exports even amid continued hostilities.

Context 

The Black Sea Grain Initiative  was signed in Istanbul in July 2022 with the mediation of Turkey and the UN. The agreement made it possible to resume exports of Ukrainian agricultural products from the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Pivdennyi. During its operation, nearly 33 million tonnes of grain and other food products were shipped from Ukrainian ports.

To monitor compliance with the agreements, a Joint Coordination Centre operated in Istanbul with the participation of representatives of Ukraine, Turkey, the UN, and Russia.

In July 2023, Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Moscow explained its decision by claiming that the requirements to facilitate Russian exports of food and fertilizers had allegedly not been fulfilled, particularly in the areas of banking settlements, insurance, and maritime logistics.

After Russia withdrew from the agreement, Ukraine established its own temporary maritime corridor, which made it possible to gradually restore a significant portion of maritime exports. However, the subsequent intensification of attacks on port infrastructure and commercial shipping once again placed the security of Black Sea routes on the agenda.

Ankara’s current proposal is a new attempt to establish a safe shipping regime agreed upon by the parties.

Recall

At the end of August 2026, the price of wheat reached a three-year high as concerns grew worldwide about an intensification of Russia’s war against Ukraine.