KYIV, June 8 – Ukraine on Wednesday rejected as not credible a joint proposal by Russia and Turkey to unblock exports of grain via the Black Sea, while the European Union had accused Moscow of “weaponizing” food supplies to gain an advantage in the war.

Russia demanded Ukraine remove mines from the Black Sea, and both Moscow and Ankara said the West should ease sanctions on Moscow to allow the export of Russian grains amid an escalating world food crisis, The Associated Press reported.

While food exports are technically exempt from the sanctions, Russia claims that restrictions on its ships and banks make it impossible to deliver its grain to global markets.

The head of Ukraine’s grain traders group scoffed at Turkey’s effort to negotiate a deal.

Turkey doesn’t have enough power in the Black Sea to guarantee security of cargo and Ukrainian ports,” Ukrainian Grain Union chief Serhiy Ivashchenko said Wednesday. He said it would take three to four months to remove sea mines, and also alleged that it was Russia that mined the area.

Ukraine is one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, but Russia’s invasion and a blockade of its ports have halted much of that flow, endangering food supplies to many developing countries, especially in Africa. Many of those ports are now also heavily mined.

At the European Parliament on Wednesday, European Council President Charles Michel accused the Kremlin of “weaponizing food supplies and surrounding their actions with a web of lies, Soviet-style.”

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu hosted his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Ankara on Wednesday for discussions focused on a United Nations proposal to free Odesa and Ukraine’s other Black Sea ports and allow 22 million tons of grain sitting in silos to be shipped out. Ukraine was not invited to the talks. (ap/ez)