Plan to ship grain out of Ukraine dealt blow due to mines

Turkish offer to escort ships through Black Sea blockade would face six-month wait for mine clearance, says Ukraine

A plan mediated by Turkey amid a global food crisis to open shipping corridors out of Ukrainian ports has been dealt a blow as officials in Kyiv said it would take six months to clear the coast of Russian and Ukrainian mines.

As Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Ankara on Tuesday, Turkey's defence minister, Hulusi Akar, said in a statement that his government was making progress with the UN, Russia and Ukraine on reopening ports under Russian blockade in the Black Sea.