Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and UN set to meet on grain exports

Smoke rises in the background during a fierce battle on the frontline, as a farmer collects harvest in a field in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, Monday, July 4, 2022. . (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Daren Butler

Russian, Ukrainian and Turkish military delegations are set to meet U.N. officials in Istanbul on Wednesday for talks on a possible deal to resume safe exports of Ukraine grain from the major Black Sea port of Odesa as a global food crisis worsens.

Turkey has been working with the United Nations to broker a deal after Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine fuelled prices for grains, cooking oils, fuel and fertilizer. Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar announced the latest talks on Tuesday.