Russian, Turkish FMs discuss Ukraine, food security

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Turkish and Russian foreign ministers held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 ministerial meeting in Bali, Indonesia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

Mevlut Cavusoglu and Sergey Lavrov had a thorough exchange on international and regional affairs with particular emphasis on the situation in Ukraine, ministry's statement said.

Russia launched in February what it calls a "special military operation" to "demilitarize" and "denazify" Ukraine. The West in reaction imposed tough sanctions on Moscow, and is providing Kyiv both economic and military support.

The war has also created a global food crisis as blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports is choking global food supply chains.

"The importance was emphasized of further coordination ... to ensure the safety of civilians and economic operators in Ukraine, including foreign ones," it said, adding that issues including interaction in the Black Sea, were also touched upon.

"The ministers expressed satisfaction with the dynamics of the political dialogue between our countries at the highest and high level in 2022. They confirmed their readiness to continue close contacts between the leadership of Russia and Türkiye, including in the face-to-face format," the statement said.

Cavusoglu in a tweet said he discussed with Lavrov "war in Ukraine, food security & Syria."

- Meeting with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi

In a separate statement, the ministry said Lavrov also met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and the two "praised the current state of the cooperation between the two countries, expressed mutual interest in further deepening ties."

"Lavrov informed his Chinese counterpart about the implementation of the main tasks of the special military operation," the statement said, adding that the ministers stressed on the inadmissibility of the imposing the "illegitimate" and "unilateral" sanctions.

"A confidential exchange of views was held on topical regional and international issues with an emphasis on the situation in the Asia-Pacific region, including in the light of ongoing attempts to create narrow-block structures in the region," the statement said.

The two ministers also pointed out the importance to the development of cooperation in the BRICS, SCO and RIC formats.

"The ministers stated that in the conditions of a difficult geopolitical situation, Russia and China continue to increase strategic cooperation, speak from common or very close positions on the absolute majority of the issues discussed," the statement read.

China has called for an end to the war, but has not condemned Russia. It has also decried one-sided Western sanctions on Moscow.​​​​​​​