Ukraine-Russia War, Conditions for Putin-Zelensky Talks, Grain Exports: What Lavrov Said in Ankara

Russia will not use the demining of Ukrainian ports for military purposes and agrees “in one way or another” to formalize appropriate guarantees, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday at a press conference following talks with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu. According to the minister, Moscow is ready to discuss with Kiev the export of Ukrainian grain through the UN mediation, but the solution of this issue depends only on Ukraine. At the same time, a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky, who reiterated his readiness to meet the day before, is…