Erdogan after speaking with Putin: grain agreement could be resumed soon

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday after talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that it would soon be possible to reactivate the grain agreement which the United Nations says helped alleviate a food crisis by bringing Ukrainian grain to market.

Russia walked out of the deal in July — a year after the United Nations and Turkey acted as mediators — complaining that its own exports of food and fertilizer were facing obstacles and that not enough Ukrainian grain was going to countries in need.

the UN and erdoğanwho had previously played a significant role in convincing Putin to stick with the deal, are trying to get the Russian leader to take it up again.

“Like Turkey, we believe that we will reach a solution that meets expectations in a short time.”, Erdogan said in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, after his first face-to-face with Putin since 2022.

erdoğan He said that Russia’s expectations were well known to all and that the shortcomings had to be eliminated, adding that Turkey and the United Nations had worked on a new package of suggestions to assuage Russian concern.

Putin has repeatedly said the West was to blame for Russia leaving the deal because it had failed to implement a separate memorandum agreed to with the United Nations, but has also said Russia could return to the grain deal if the West honors its end of the deal.

Next to erdoğanPutin said Russia could return to the deal, but only if the West stops restricting Russian agricultural exports from reaching world markets.

“We will be ready to consider the possibility of reactivating the grain agreement, and I have said so again today to the president: we will do so as soon as all agreements on the lifting of export restrictions on Russian agricultural products are fully implemented.“, held putin.

Western claims that Russia had stoked a food crisis by suspending its participation in the grain deal were incorrect, as prices did not rise with its exit from the agreement, Putin added.

While Russia’s food and fertilizer exports are not subject to Western sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine and Russia exported record amounts of wheat last year, Moscow and agricultural exporters say limitations on payments, logistics and insurance have hampered shipments.

“The West continues to block the supply of grain and fertilizer from the Russian Federation to world marketsPutin said, adding that the West had “cheated” to Russia with the agreement because the rich countries kept more than 70% of the grain exported.

The aim of the deal was to transport grain from Ukraine to global markets via the Black Sea and alleviate the global food crisis that the United Nations says has been exacerbated by Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of the year. past.

Russia and Ukraine are two of the world’s leading agricultural producers and players in the markets for wheat, barley, corn, rapeseed, rapeseed oil, sunflower seeds and sunflower oil.

Source: Reuters