1) @Reuters report that Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko has apparently suggested Russia is ready to provide a humanitarian corridor for vessels carrying food to leave Ukrainian ports, in return for the lifting of some sanctions #blockade #UkraineWar reuters.com/world/europe/r…
2) This is not the first such offer made by Russia. @SamChambers of @splash_247 reported another in March, which resulted in no ships sailing, & a different result this time would be a considerable surprise. splash247.com/no-sign-shippi…
3) Perhaps the key difference, however, is the apparent linkage of shipping movements to sanctions relief, tacitly admitting, perhaps for the 1st time, that there is actually a #blockade in place, & it may take more than raising the issue of Ukrainian mining to spin that away. 
4) Report from @Orhan__Coskun of @Reuters that Turkey🇹🇷 is in negotiations with Russia🇷🇺 & Ukraine🇺🇦 to open a #maritime corridor, via the Bosphorus, for grain exports from Ukraine's blockaded Black Sea ports #blockade #UkraineWar reuters.com/markets/commod…
5) Similarly, this is not the first time Turkey has offered a #maritime solution to a humanitarian crisis during the #UkraineWar, having offered to send ships to evacuate civilians from the port of Mariupol at the start of April. This again came to nothing hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-can-con…
6) While minesweepers of the Turkish Navy have been monitoring the waters near the Bosphorus for stray, floating mines that threaten the vital trade routes in the western Black Sea. reuters.com/world/middle-e…
7) Controlling the entrance to the Black Sea, if anything happens to end, or ease the #blockade, Turkey will be crucial, but despite @NATO membership & the 2nd most powerful navy in the area, relations with the two sides mean it is extremely unlikely Turkey will forcibly break it
8) It remains to be seen if anything comes of this initiative & expectations should not be high, though Turkey is also reportedly one of the countries more exposed to the #blockade's effects, & so there may yet be domestic pressure to make something happen reuters.com/markets/asia/r…
9) Italy🇮🇹 is the latest country to announce an effort to help end the #blockade of #Ukraine's🇺🇦 Black Sea ports. Anything here appears to be in the very earliest stages, however, as Prime Minister Draghi appears yet to speak to @ZelenskyyUa or @RTErdogan reuters.com/markets/europe…
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