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A top aide to Turkey’s president said on Friday the international community cannot end the war in Ukraine by ignoring Moscow, as Tayyip Erdogan headed to Russia to meet his counterpart Vladimir Putin.
The meeting, less than three weeks since they held talks in Tehran, comes after Turkey helped broker a deal to resume Ukraine’s Black Sea grain exports which were blocked by Russia’s invasion.
Turkish presidential communications director Fahrettin Altun said the agreement attested to the success of Nato member Turkey’s efforts and the direct diplomacy between the two leaders, while criticising the role played by other countries.
“The truth is that some of our friends do not want the war to end. They are shedding crocodile tears,” Mr Altun said, saying some were actively trying to undermine Turkey’s efforts without specifying who.
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“The international community cannot end the war in Ukraine by ignoring Russia. Diplomacy and peace must prevail,” he said.
Mr Erdogan was scheduled to meet Mr Putin on Friday afternoon before a meeting between delegations of the two countries.
Turkey has relatively good relations with Ukraine and Russia. But while it has criticised the invasion and provided Ukraine with arms, it has broken with western allies by not imposing sanctions on Russia.
“We are looking to harness Turkey’s relationships with Russia and Ukraine to work toward a mutually acceptable solution,” Mr Altun said
While there is close co-operation with Russia on energy supplies, there has also been military competition between them in Syria, Libya and Azerbaijan.
Friday’s talks between Mr Erdogan and Mr Putin were also likely to deal with Turkey’s threat to begin new military operations in Syria to extend 30km (20 miles) deep “safe zones” on the border
Meanwhile, three ships carrying a total of 58,041 tonnes of corn have been authorised to leave Ukrainian ports on Friday as part of a deal to unblock grain exports, as a Russian offensive forced Ukraine to cede territory in the east.
[ More civilians die in Donbas as Nato says Russia cannot be allowed to defeat Ukraine ]
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The first vessel carrying Ukrainian grain allowed to leave port since the start of the war set sail from Odesa on Monday bound for Lebanon, under a safe passage deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations.
The Joint Co-ordination Centre in Istanbul, which groups Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and UN personnel, said two ships would leave from Chornomorsk and one from Odesa on Friday.
“The three outbound vessels are estimated to depart in the morning from their respective ports,” it said.
From Chornomorsk, the Polarnet would leave for Karasu in Turkey with 12,000 tonnes of corn and the Rojen would take 13,041 tonnes of corn to Teesport in Britain.
From Odesa, the Navistar would take 33,000 tonnes of corn to Ringaskiddy in Ireland.
The Turkish bulk carrier Osprey S, flying the flag of Liberia, was expected to arrive in Ukraine's Chornomorsk port on Friday, the regional administration of Odesa said. It would be the first ship to arrive at a Ukrainian port during the war.
As of Thursday afternoon, Osprey S was anchored in the Sea of Marmara, about 1km (0.62 miles) off Istanbul’s Asian coast, along with other ships waiting to cross the Bosphorus in to the Black Sea.
Russian president Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine on February 24th, sparking the biggest conflict in Europe since the second World War and causing a global energy and food crisis. Ukraine and Russia produce about one-third of global wheat and Russia is Europe’s main energy supplier.
Ukraine has called for the grain deal to be extended to include other products, such as metals, the Financial Times reported.
“This agreement is about logistics, about the movement of vessels through the Black Sea,” Ukraine’s deputy economy minister Taras Kachka said.
“What's the difference between grain and iron ore?”
A weekend curfew will be is to be imposed by Ukraine’s southern frontline city of Mykolaiv from late Friday to early Monday morning as authorities try to catch people collaborating with Russia, the region’s governor said.
Mykolaiv has been shelled throughout the invasion and lies close to Russian-occupied parts of the strategically important region of Kherson where Ukraine plans to conduct a counter-offensive.
Vitaliy Kim, governor of the Mykoliav region, told residents the curfew would run from 11pm Friday to 5am Monday did not mean the city was under threat or facing a looming attack.
“There’s no sign of an encirclement. The city will be closed for the weekend. Please be understanding. We are also working on collaborators. Districts will undergo checks,” Mr Kim said on Telegram.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the pressure his armed forces were under in the eastern Donbas region as “hell”.
Moscow is seeking to control the largely Russian-speaking Donbas, comprised of Luhansk and Donetsk provinces, where pro-Moscow separatists gained control of territory after the Kremlin annexed Crimea to the south in 2014.
Mr Zelenskiy spoke of fierce fighting around the town of Avdiivka and the fortified village of Pisky, where Ukraine has acknowledged its Russian foe’s “partial success” in recent days.
The Ukrainian military said on Thursday Russian forces had mounted at least two assaults on Pisky but had been repelled.
Ukraine has spent the last eight years fortifying defensive positions in Pisky, viewing it as a buffer zone against Russian-backed forces who control the city of Donetsk about 10km to the southeast.
Ukrainian general Oleksiy Hromov told a news conference his forces had recaptured two villages around the eastern city of Sloviansk, but had been pushed back to the town of Avdiivka after being forced to abandon a coal mine regarded as an important defensive position.
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The Russian defence ministry confirmed its offensive.
Reuters could not immediately verify either side's assertions.
The Ukraine war has displaced millions, killed thousands of civilians, and left cities, towns and villages in rubble. Ukraine and its western allies have accused Russian forces of targeting civilians and war crimes, charges Russia rejects.
On Friday, Ukraine's General Staff said Russian shelling of scores of towns across the country again targeted civilian settlements as well as military infrastructure.
Human rights group Amnesty International on Thursday said Ukraine was endangering civilians by basing troops in residential areas.
Mr Zelenskiy hit back at the group, saying it was trying to “shift responsibility from the aggressor to the victim”.
The White House said it expected Russian officials to try to frame Ukrainian forces for an attack on the front-line town of Olenivka last week that killed prisoners held by Moscow-backed separatists.
Russia’s deputy UN ambassador responded in a Twitter post, saying U.S.-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems were used in the attack.
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday he would start a fact-finding mission after Russia and Ukraine requested an investigation.
Mr Putin says he began his “special military operation” in Ukraine to ensure Russian security and protect Russian-speakers in Ukraine.
Ukraine and the West describe Russia's actions as an unprovoked imperial-style war of aggression.
Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday the war was the most dangerous moment for Europe since the second World War and Russia must not be allowed to win.
Amid fears among some politicians in the West that Russia’s ambitions may extend beyond Ukraine, Mr Stoltenberg warned Putin that the response to such a move from the western military alliance would be overwhelming.
“If president Putin even thinks of doing something similar to a Nato country as he has done to Georgia, Moldova or Ukraine, then all of Nato will be involved immediately,” Mr Stoltenberg said.
The war has led previously non-aligned Finland and Sweden to seek Nato membership, with the request so far ratified by 23 of the 30 member states, including the US. — Reuters
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