ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will discuss a new strategy with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during his upcoming visit to Turkiye to allow Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea.
Turkiye, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday said that there are efforts to find new ways to transport Ukrainian grain to the world markets.
Putin is likely to pay an official visit to Turkiye on February 12 to meet Erdogan, a Turkish official previously said. This would be the Russian leader’s first trip to a NATO ally since Russia-Ukraine war started in February 2022.
Fidan added the previous grain agreement worked within a certain mechanism, now it has been seen that there is a possibility of going with a different plan and efforts are underway to concretize this possibility.
He said that Erdogan will raise this matter during his meeting with Putin in Turkiye.
Ankara seeks Moscow’s return to Black Sea Grain Initiative
Ankara has sought to convince Russia to return to the Black Sea Grain Initiative, from which Moscow withdrew in July 2023, a year after it was implemented.
The deal was brokered by the United Nations and Turkiye to ensure safe passage to exports from Ukrainian ports.
Kyiv has said talks are underway to revive the agreement, but Moscow said there is no possibility of reinstating it.
Fidan said some ships had managed to transfer Ukrainian grain from the Black Sea, even without the deal in place.
