As Ankara attempts to re-establish a pact that permits Ukraine to export its grain via the Black Sea, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed on Friday his continued optimism that Russian leader Vladimir Putin would visit Turkey in August.
Erdogan eyes Putin visit: After Friday prayers at an Istanbul mosque, Erdogan told reporters that negotiations between his foreign minister and his chief of intelligence were ongoing but did not provide a specific date. He predicted that the visit will happen in August.
Turkey played a significant role in the now-defunct agreement that guaranteed the security of grain imports from Ukraine over the Black Sea.
Ankara and the UN mediated the agreement in July 2022, which came to an end last month when Moscow declined to extend it.
In a phone chat on Wednesday, Erdogan pleaded with Putin to avoid escalating the situation further after Moscow attacked infrastructure crucial for food imports from Ukraine.
On Friday, Erdogan state that he and Russia reache an agreement that the grain should be exporte to less develope African nations.
We’ll transform the grain from the Black Sea into flour and ship it to underdeveloped, underdeveloped African nations, he declared.
During a joint press conference with the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, Erdogan said last month that Putin would travel to Turkey in August.
Zelensky’s action of returning from Istanbul with five top commanders from the Azov unit, who were supposed to stay in Turkey until the end of the war as part of a prisoner exchange agreement with Moscow, caused Moscow to become infuriated.
At the time, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, referred to it as “a direct violation” of the deal with Turkey.
Turkey, a NATO member, has maintained cordial relations with both Russia and Ukraine during the conflict.
Ankara has resisted Western sanctions against Russia while arming Ukraine.