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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday he had agreed with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to work on a Black Sea grain corridor, as the two leaders put maritime security at the center of talks in Istanbul.
“Today, I reached an agreement with President Erdogan to work on the Black Sea grain corridor,” Zelenskyy told a joint news conference at the Presidential Dolmabahce Office. He said the aim is for the corridor to continue to exist and operate effectively.
Erdogan, for his part, said attacks on civilian vessels serve no one. “We cannot accept these attacks in any way, no matter who they come from and whatever their justification,” he said, calling on all parties to act responsibly.
The talks also covered the war between Russia and Ukraine, peace efforts, and economic and defense industry cooperation between the two countries.
Erdogan said Türkiye has worked since the start of the war to preserve security and stability in the Black Sea, but that fighting has recently spread into the waterway as the conflict has escalated. He said steps that raise tensions in the Black Sea would benefit no one.
He said Türkiye will continue talks with the parties to restore safe navigation and will take up the issue with Russia as well. An agreement, he said, would also give momentum to efforts toward lasting peace in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said a significant part of the discussions focused on the Black Sea, which he described as a shared security space with Türkiye and the region’s other neighbors. He noted that the meeting coincided with International Black Sea Day.
He accused Russia of steadily worsening the situation there through aggression he said has continued since 2014, and thanked Türkiye for supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and for backing efforts to ensure safe navigation. He said the two leaders also discussed new ideas and proposals on security.
The grain corridor carries precedent. Türkiye and the United Nations brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative in July 2022 to allow Ukrainian grain exports by sea during the war. Russia withdrew from the arrangement in July 2023.
Erdogan said he welcomed renewed diplomatic efforts to end the war, citing the efforts of U.S. President Donald Trump. He said negotiations that Türkiye previously hosted between Ukraine and Russia had shown that diplomacy can produce concrete results. “A just peace has no loser,” he said, adding that Türkiye is ready to make every effort to open the way to peace.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine is preparing for a three-way format with the United States and Russia, which is expected to take place in the first half of November. He said he and Erdogan discussed the prospects for that format, including how Türkiye and the rest of Europe could be involved and the possibility of holding meetings in Türkiye. “Strong decisions are needed for peace,” he said.
He said Russia must be told that there is no alternative to peace at any level and that support for Ukraine will not diminish. He pointed to a humanitarian operation carried out in recent days in Oleshki, in the Kherson region, as evidence that de-escalation steps are possible when Russia is pressed to take them.
Erdogan reaffirmed Türkiye’s commitment to Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence, and described Ukraine as a strategic partner.
On the economic front, Erdogan said a free trade agreement signed in 2022 took effect on Oct. 1, bringing the two countries closer to their target of $10 billion in trade volume. He added that Turkish companies that stayed in Ukraine despite the war are expected to contribute to its reconstruction.
Zelenskyy said the two countries are natural allies in defense and the defense industry, and that cooperation will grow stronger. He said they are working on new joint industrial and economic projects, and that progress on freedom of navigation would help the trade agreement reach its full potential.
He said he met representatives of Turkish energy companies on Saturday, and that deliveries of generators and other energy equipment are expected to rise next week. He described Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure as “terror attacks” and said every energy project with partners is important at this time. Business representatives from both countries were also meeting in Istanbul, he said.
Zelenskyy said he expects the points agreed at the presidential level to be put into practice quickly, a process he said depends on the work of the two governments’ teams.
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