Turkey’s ruling party awaits Erdogan’s meeting with Putin in Sochi

The meeting between Turkish and Russian Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin will take place in Sochi in the near future, Omer Celik, spokesman for the ruling Justice and Development Party in the republic, told reporters.

“Our president has done diplomatic work to prevent a food crisis in the world. As you know, in the near future, our Mr. President will go to Sochi for talks with President Putin,” he said (quote according to TASS).

The party expects the situation around the grain deal to improve as a result of this meeting, Celik added.

Putin and Erdogan agreed to meet during a telephone conversation on August 2. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov noted that the heads of state were going to discuss, among other things, the issues of resolving the situation in Ukraine and extending the grain deal, from which Russia withdrew on July 17.

TASS, citing sources, reported that the presidents could meet on September 4. The Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak wrote that Erdogan intends to come to Russia for talks with Putin. By information Bloomberg, Erdogan may come to Russia on September 8, on the eve of the G20 summit in Delhi on September 9-10.

Today, August 28, Peskov again confirmedthat Putin’s meeting with Erdogan will take place in the near future. He did not comment on the possibility of Erdogan’s visit to Russia. “Because there are certain agreements on the dates of the announcement, and we intend to adhere to these agreements,” Peskov said.

On July 17, Russia left the Black Sea Initiative, which was signed on July 22, 2022 by representatives of Turkey, the UN, Russia and Ukraine. The Kremlin explained this by the failure to fulfill the second part of the agreement, which concerns, among other things, the lifting of restrictions on the supply of Russian products. On July 19, the Russian Ministry of Defense declared all ships going to Ukrainian ports as potential military targets. This decision was made in connection with the termination of the “Black Sea Initiative” and the curtailment of the maritime humanitarian corridor.