"Secretary Blinken spoke today with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to underscore the importance of Armenia-Azerbaijan peace discussions. The Secretary thanked Türkiye for its leadership in the Black Sea Grain Initiative and noted the urgent need to address the Kremlin’s inhumane use of food as a weapon of war," Miller said in a press release.
Blinken has also thanked his Turkish counterpart for Ankara's commitment to send Sweden's NATO accession protocol to Türkiye's parliament for ratification.
On July 18, the Türkiye- and UN-mediated Black Sea Grain Initiative, which provided for a humanitarian corridor to allow exports of Ukrainian grain over the past year, expired, as Russia did not renew its participation in the deal.
Moscow emphasized that the deal's component on facilitating Russian grain and fertilizer exports had not been fulfilled, specifically with regard to reconnecting Russian banks to SWIFT and unblocking the Tolyatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline.
Sweden, along with Finland, submitted its NATO application in May 2022, several months after Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine. Finland became a member of the alliance in April 2023. Sweden's application is still pending ratification by Hungary and Türkiye.