Turkey and Ukraine agree to work on Black Sea grain corridor; US reviewing ideas from India and Turkey

Turkey and Ukraine have agreed to work on reviving a Black Sea grain corridor, while the United States said it was studying proposals from India and Turkey to get grain ships moving safely through waters that have seen a surge in attacks on merchant vessels.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Dolmabahce office in Istanbul on Saturday. At a joint news conference, Erdogan said Ankara could not accept attacks on civilian ships under any circumstances, whoever carried them out, and urged all sides to act responsibly. Zelensky called the talks substantive and said the goal was to keep the corridor operating effectively.

Rising attacks at sea

Strikes on shipping by both Russia and Ukraine have intensified in recent months, and several vessels, some of them Turkish-flagged, have been caught up in the attacks. In August, Ankara called for a moratorium on strikes against ships. Kyiv has said it is ready to accept such a pause.

The original Black Sea Grain Initiative was brokered by Turkey and the United Nations in 2022, months after Russia's full-scale invasion, and later collapsed after Russia withdrew.

India among those with ideas

Speaking after the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Atlanta, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said both Turkey and India had brought forward ideas on how to restart grain shipments. He said interest was growing in a limited ceasefire covering the Black Sea, which he said would not end the war but would address one part of it.

Rubio said the attacks threatened global food security and, to some extent, energy security. The G20 foreign ministers' meeting, which Russia's Sergei Lavrov attended and Ukraine did not, ended without a joint statement.

Peace talks uncertain

Rubio was cautious about a wider settlement, saying he did not know whether a negotiated peace was achievable and that nobody was claiming a deal was close. Trilateral talks involving Russia, Ukraine and the US are expected in the United Arab Emirates in November, though no date has been fixed.

For Indian readers, the Black Sea matters for global food and edible oil prices and for the safety of merchant ships and their crews, and New Delhi's role in the grain discussions signals a growing diplomatic stake.