INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russia and Ukraine were due Wednesday to hold their first talks with UN and Turkish officials aimed at breaking a months-long impasse over
grain exports that has seen food prices soar and millions face hunger.The four-way meeting in Istanbul comes with Russia's invasion of
Ukraine showing no sign of abating and the threat of food shortages spreading across the poorest parts of the world.Ukraine is a vital
exporter of wheat and grains such as barley and maize
It has also supplied nearly half of all the sunflower oil traded on global markets.But exports across the Black Sea have been blocked by
Russian warships and mines Kyiv has laid to avert a feared amphibious assault.The negotiations are being complicated by growing suspicions
that Russia is trying to export grain it has stolen from Ukrainian farmers in regions under its control.U.S
space agency data released last week showed 22% of Ukraine's farmland falling under Russian control since the Feb
24 invasion.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres tried on Tuesday to play down expectations from the Istanbul talks."We are working hard
indeed, but there is still a way to go," the UN chief told reporters.The meeting will involve military delegations from the three countries
and diplomats from the UN.Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said they would focus "on the safe shipment to international markets of grain
leaders in Kyiv to try and broker an agreement on a safe way to deliver the grain.Turkey says it has 20 merchant ships waiting in the region
that could be quickly loaded and sent to world markets.A plan by the UN proposes the ships follow safe "corridors" that run between the
global food crisis.Ukraine estimates that up to 25 million tons of grain are currently blocked in its ports.A report by the International
Rescue Committee international relief group warned last month that 47 million people faced the threat of "acute hunger" this year.The talks
have been gaining momentum since Ukraine's recapture this month of the tiny but strategic Snake Island from the Russians.The uninhabited
rock sits near routes used to export the grain.Its return has already enabled Ukraine to start the first shipments along the nearby Danube
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.The two leaders' first meeting since Russia's invasion will be held on the
sidelines of a three-way summit on Syria hosted by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.The war in Ukraine has contributed to Turkey's mounting
economic problems and further complicated Erdogan's path to a third decade in power in elections due within the next year.Erdogan has been
Russian foreign ministry spokesman said Moscow wanted to be able to "control and search the ships to avoid the contraband of weapons, and
Kyiv's commitment not to stage provocations."Ukraine said it sought to ensure any solution did not threaten "the security of our southern
regions" along the Black Sea.Kyiv has also asked that its merchant vessels be accompanied by warships from a friendly country such as
