Turkish Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar said the last three months saw Ukrainian grain exports via Turkiye exceeding 7.7 million tons aboard 345 ships.

The food prices have significantly dropped on the global markets due to the resumption of grain shipments from Ukraine, he told reporters after visiting the Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul.

During his visit, Akar was accompanied by Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov. For his part, Kubrakov thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Akar for their contributions to the establishment of the grain corridor. “We believe that this initiative should continue. We understand the link between this initiative and grain prices around the world,”  Anadolu Agency quoted him as saying. Kubrakov also thanked Erdogan for the prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine in September.

Istanbul coordination center, launched under the July 22 agreement between Moscow and Kyiv, aims to ensure safe grain shipments from Ukraine's Back Sea ports amid the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. The agreement was jointly brokered by Turkiye and the United Nations.