Four-way meeting on grain corridor begins in Turkey, Ukraine optimistic on a deal with Russia

Turkey is hosting a four-way meeting aimed at reaching a grain deal between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul on Wednesday. 

The talks between Ukrainian, Russian and Turkish defence ministries’ officials, along with a UN delegation, have started at 1:00 p.m. local time and continues behind closed doors at an undisclosed location, Reuters said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, commenting over the issue to Spanish newspaper El Pais, said they are two steps away from an agreement with Moscow.

“We are in the final phase and now everything depends on Russia," Reuters cited Kuleba as saying.

United Nations introduced a plan to set up a food corridor along the Black Sea for the resumption of Ukraine’s grain exports, that have stalled after Russian invasion at the end of February. 

Some 20 million tons of grain have stuck at the war-torn country, threatening a global food crisis, as Ukraine is one of the world’s biggest grain exporters.