Erdogan Says 'Hopes' for Extension of Black Sea Grain Initiative Ahead of Anticipated Talks

© Sputnik / Alexandr Kryazhev / Go to the mediabankWheat
Wheat - Sputnik International, 1920, 08.07.2023
Subscribe
ISTANBUL (Sputnik) - Turkiye expects that the Black Sea Grain Initiative, also known as the grain deal, will be extended, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after one-on-one talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
Erdogan and Zelensky held talks at the Vahdettin Mansion in Istanbul on Friday night. The talks lasted about 2.5 hours.
Speaking at a conference after the talks Erdogan said he "hoped" for the extension of the grain deal concluded in July 2022 in Istanbul.
Erdogan further indicated he expected to discuss the grain deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin either by phone or in person. The Turkish president also said he was anticipating Putin to visit Turkiye in August.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday he did not rule out contacts between Putin and Erdogan in the near future.
Cargo ships anchored in the Marmara Sea await to cross the Bosphorus Straits in Istanbul, Turkiye, Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022. - Sputnik International, 1920, 05.07.2023
Turkiye Backs Another Extension of Expiring Grain Deal
Russia, Ukraine, Turkiye and the United Nations struck a deal to provide a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships with food and fertilizer exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports on July 22, 2022. Moscow has since agreed to several extensions to the grain deal, which is now due to expire in mid-July, but complained that its memorandum component has not been fully implemented.
On June 7, the Russian Defense Ministry said a Ukrainian sabotage group had blown up the Tolyatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline in the Kharkov Region. Peskov said the explosion would complicate the extension of the grain deal.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said earlier this week that Russia believed July 18 to be the day of the grain deal's termination.
Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала