CHANGES DECK, ADDS BORRELL'S REMARKS
By Diyar Guldogan, Ahmet Gencturk
ANKARA (AA) - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell spoke by phone Monday on the latest developments in Ukraine, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Borrell said on Twitter that he underlined Türkiye's role in securing a deal on exports of Ukrainian grain and mitigating the impact of Russian aggression against Ukraine during their call.
"Discussed impact of EU sanctions and expressed hope that Turkey can use its influence over Russia to stop senseless war," he added.
Türkiye, the UN, Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement in Istanbul on July 22 to resume grain exports from the Ukrainian Black Sea ports of Yuzhny, Chornomorsk and Odesa, which were halted due to the Russia-Ukraine war, now in its sixth month.
A Joint Coordination Center (JCC) with officials from the three countries and the UN has been set up in Istanbul to oversee the shipments.
Since the first ship left Ukraine under the deal on Aug. 1, over 656,000 tons of Ukrainian grain have been delivered to world markets.