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Zelenskiy, Erdogan to Discuss Grain Deal, Prisoner Swaps

HANDOUT - 01 July 2023, Ukraine, Kiev: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint press conference with Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (not pictured) following their meeting. Photo: Ukrainian Presidency/dpa
HANDOUT - 01 July 2023, Ukraine, Kiev: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint press conference with Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (not pictured) following their meeting. Photo: Ukrainian Presidency/dpa
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Zelenskiy, Erdogan to Discuss Grain Deal, Prisoner Swaps

HANDOUT - 01 July 2023, Ukraine, Kiev: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint press conference with Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (not pictured) following their meeting. Photo: Ukrainian Presidency/dpa
HANDOUT - 01 July 2023, Ukraine, Kiev: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint press conference with Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (not pictured) following their meeting. Photo: Ukrainian Presidency/dpa

The presidents of Ukraine and Türkiye will discuss on Friday the potential extension of the Black Sea grain deal and a possible prisoner exchange between Moscow and Kyiv, a senior Turkish official said ahead of the talks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will meet Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul following visits to Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, part of a tour of some NATO capitals aimed at encouraging them to take concrete steps at a summit next week towards granting Kyiv membership of the alliance, Reuters said.
A key element of Zelenskiy's talks in Istanbul will be the fate of a deal, brokered last year by Türkiye and the United Nations, to allow for the safe export of grain from Ukrainian ports via the Black Sea despite the war raging across Ukraine.
Russia, angry about aspects of the grain deal's implementation, has threatened not to allow its further extension beyond July 17.
As well as the grain deal and a possible prisoner swap, Erdogan and Zelenskiy will also discuss efforts to end the war in Ukraine, the senior Turkish official said.
Türkiye, a NATO member, has managed to retain cordial relations with both Russia and Ukraine over the past 16 months of the war and last year it helped to broker prisoner exchanges.
Türkiye has not joined its Western allies in imposing economic sanctions on Russia, but has also supplied arms to Ukraine and called for its sovereignty to be respected.
Erdogan and Zelenskiy are scheduled to hold a press conference at 1800 GMT on Friday.
The Turkish official said Erdogan might hold a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin following his talks with Zelenskiy. A Turkish minister could also visit Moscow for further discussions, the official added.

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US Air Force Looks to Upgrade Cyprus Airbase as Humanitarian Staging Post for the Middle East

A view of a Greek Air Force F-16 aircraft after landing at Cyprus’ Andreas Papandreou Air Base near the southwestern coastal city of Paphos, Cyprus, Tuesday, Aug.25, 2020. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)
A view of a Greek Air Force F-16 aircraft after landing at Cyprus’ Andreas Papandreou Air Base near the southwestern coastal city of Paphos, Cyprus, Tuesday, Aug.25, 2020. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)
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US Air Force Looks to Upgrade Cyprus Airbase as Humanitarian Staging Post for the Middle East

A view of a Greek Air Force F-16 aircraft after landing at Cyprus’ Andreas Papandreou Air Base near the southwestern coastal city of Paphos, Cyprus, Tuesday, Aug.25, 2020. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)
A view of a Greek Air Force F-16 aircraft after landing at Cyprus’ Andreas Papandreou Air Base near the southwestern coastal city of Paphos, Cyprus, Tuesday, Aug.25, 2020. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)

Experts from the US Air Force are looking at ways to upgrade Cyprus’ premier air base for use as a humanitarian staging post in future operations in the Middle East, a Cypriot official told The Associated Press Thursday.

Cyprus, which is only 184 kilometers (114 miles) from the Lebanese capital, Beirut, has acted as a transit point for the repatriation of foreign nationals fleeing conflict in the Middle East and beyond on numerous occasions in the past. It has also served as a transit point for humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Experts from the 435th Contingency Response Group based out of Ramstein, Germany, will spend the next few days at Andreas Papandreou Air Force Base to assess the upgrade needed to accommodate a wide array of US air assets and other forces.

A key priority is to ensure air traffic safety in and around the base, which abuts the island's second-largest civilian airport, the official said. The base's location makes it easy to transfer evacuees onto civilian aircraft at the adjacent airport for their trip home.

The official spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he’s not authorized to speak publicly about the details of the experts’ visit.

Air traffic safety would need to be enhanced through new high-tech installations, including state-of-the-art radar, to ensure the independent operation of civilian and military aircraft at safe distances.

“The Americans are very specific on safety issues and want to make some upgrades to further improve the base’s safety,” the official said.

Other essential upgrades include expanding both the base itself and the runway to accommodate more transport and fighter aircraft. Hardened shelters to protect those air assets are also envisioned.

The Cyprus government agreed to the air base upgrade assessment following the recent deployment of a US Marine contingent at the base. The Marines, who were equipped with V-22 Osprey tiltrotor military transport and cargo aircraft, were on stand-by in the event of a swift evacuation of US citizens from nearby Lebanon during Israel’s strikes against Hezbollah targets late last year.

Deputy government spokesman Yannis Antoniou told the state broadcaster Thursday that any use of the base by the forces of the US or other nations would require prior Cyprus government approval. He insisted the air base would not act as a forward base for military strike operations against targets in the region.

“We’ve shown interest in working with (US Forces) because we consider this to serve the vital interests of the Cyprus Republic,” Antoniou said, adding that in their report, the USAF experts will offer an estimate of the upgrade costs and which percentage of those the US government would be willing to cover.

Bilateral relations between European Union member Cyprus and the US, especially in terms of military cooperation, have grown significantly over the last few years following a pledge by Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides to affirm the ethnically divided country’s “clear Western orientation.”

A manifestation of those ties was last week’s directive by former President Joe Biden that allows Cyprus to buy arms from the US government and get surplus American military equipment.

The Cypriot government noted the development as a tangible acknowledgment of Cyprus’ reliability as a US partner in the region.