Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he believes that Russia will "soon" rejoin the Black Sea grain deal that until recently had made it possible for Ukraine's wartime food exports to reach global markets.
Erdoğan, after meeting with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, told a joint news conference on Monday that they "will be able to reach a solution which fulfills the expectations soon."
Putin, however, said after the two leaders' first in-person meeting in almost a year that Russia will agree to revive the deal "as soon as all the agreements on lifting restrictions on the export of Russian agricultural products are fully implemented."
It has been almost two months since Russia pulled out of the U.N.-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative in July 2022 to allow food, fertilizer and other basic commodities to reach global markets.
Turkey, which oversaw shipping and cargo inspections, also signed the deal between Ukraine and Russia to bring food to areas of Africa, the Middle East and Asia that are threatened by growing hunger and poverty. China, Spain and Turkey, however, have been the biggest recipients of exports under the deal
Erdoğan said Turkey, a NATO member, has been working with U.N. officials to revive the deal under which almost 33 million metric tons of grain have left Ukraine. In recent days Kyiv has tried to ship more grain exports by land and through its Danube River ports.
Russia has long complained about restrictions on its shipping and insurance due to Western sanctions, but it has exported record amounts of wheat since last year.
“I hope the new work of the U.N. will yield results," said Erdoğan. "All parties are aware of Russia’s expectations for the resumption of the initiative. We have expressed these demands and we continue to do so."
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has sent Moscow "a set of concrete proposals" for reviving the deal, which had eased Russia's naval blockade in the Black Sea. The grain deal facilitated a maritime corridor after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022.
