Turkey agrees to act as mediator to facilitate departure of vessels blocked in Ukrainian ports - deputy minister

MOSCOW. May 19 (Interfax) - Ukraine invited Turkey to act as a mediator to enable the departure of both six Turkish vessels and 38 other foreign vessels blocked in Ukrainian ports since the start of the crisis, and Turkey gave its tentative agreement, Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Yury Vaskov said.

"[Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan spoke about the possibility for blocked Turkish vessels to depart from Nikolayev. These are only the vessels blocked in these ports before February 24, 2022. This requires security guarantees and a mediator, which Turkey is ready to become for is vessels. We, for our part, suggested that Turkey act as a mediator for other vessels as well. Turkey has given its tentative agreement to it," Vaskov said in an interview with Ukrainian media.

At the same time, he declined to say exactly when these vessels will be able to leave Ukraine's ports.

"A date is not yet known. It is a matter of security, and relevant services are dealing with it," Vaskov said.

Along with announcing the extension of the Black Sea grain initiative for another two months on May 17, Erdogan said that an agreement was reached on the departure of Turkish vessels from the Nikolayev and Olvia ports.

"Our Russian friends have said that they will not prevent the departure of Turkish vessels from the Nikolayev and Olvia ports. We are grateful to them for that," Ukrainian media outlets quoted Erdogan as saying on social media