Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting in Sochi, Russia, earlier this week. The two discussed a grain export deal abandoned by Moscow last July. What was the result of that meeting?
As reported Reuters, Tuesday (5/9/2023), Russia exited a grain export deal complaining that its exports of food and fertilizer were seriously hampered. Moscow withdrew from the deal mediated by Turkey and the United Nations (UN) in July, or a year after it was agreed.
Erdogan, who previously played a key role in convincing Putin to stick with the deal, and the United Nations are both trying to persuade Putin to return to the deal.
After talks with Putin, Erdoğan said it was possible to revive the deal, which so far helped in alleviating the food crisis caused by the continuing war in Ukraine that was triggered by the Russian invasion.
“As Turkey, we believe that we will reach a solution that meets expectations in a short time,” Erdogan said in Sochi, after his first face-to-face meeting with Putin since 2022.
Erdogan said further that Russia’s expectations are known to all parties and that existing shortcomings must be eliminated. He added that Türkiye and the UN had put together a new package of suggestions to ease Moscow’s concerns.
Standing next to Erdogan, Putin reaffirmed Russia’s position that his country could return to the deal if the West stopped limiting Moscow’s agricultural exports to reach global markets.
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