Erdogan vows to continue contacts to resume grain deal

Türkiye will continue contacts to resume the grain deal. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated this on the air of the TRT TV channel.

“We continue to contact for the resumption and expansion of the grain corridor initiative, which was suspended on July 17,” – declared Erdogan (TASS quote).

The Turkish president also stressed that the solution of the issue of the grain deal depends on the implementation by the Western countries of “their words.” In his opinion, the deal made it possible “to prevent a crisis that could cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.”

In addition, Erdogan noted Turkey’s key role in the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. He also added that Ankara has a clear position, it fundamentally observes the Montreux Convention and will not allow the conflict to spread to the Black Sea basin.

The grain deal was concluded on July 22, 2022 by representatives of Turkey and the UN on the one hand and representatives of Russia and Ukraine on the other. As part of the negotiations, two agreements were signed between Moscow and Kiev. The first is for the export of Ukrainian grain from three ports, including Odessa, Yuzhny and Chornomorsk, the second is for assistance in the export of Russian grain and fertilizers. On July 17, 2023, Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Initiative, as the second part of the agreement remained unfulfilled.

August 2 Russian President Vladimir Putin spent telephone conversations with Erdogan, during which he announced Moscow’s readiness to return to the grain deal as soon as the West fulfills its second part. The Kremlin press service noted that in the absence of progress in the implementation of the Russian part of the deal, its next extension has lost its meaning. Erdogan and Putin also agreed on the visit of the President of the Russian Federation to Turkey. Erdogan countsthat the visit will take place in August.