Erdogan to initiate talks with Putin on grain exports from Ukrainian ports

(Patria) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will discuss a new mechanism for exporting Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his upcoming visit to Turkey, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan revealed yesterday.

The meeting between Erdogan and Putin is expected on February 12, as previously announced by a Turkish official. It will also be the first trip by the Russian president to a NATO member country since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

- There are efforts to find "new ways" to transport Ukrainian grain to world markets, as well as to concretise this possibility - Fidan said, adding that Erdogan will raise this issue at the meeting with Putin.

Fidan stated that some ships have already managed to transport Ukrainian grain from the Black Sea, even without an agreement, and that Turkey wants to clarify such a situation with a new mechanism.

Ankara is trying to convince Russia to rejoin the Black Sea Grain Initiative, from which it withdrew in July 2023, a year after it was launched with UN mediation.

Kyiv says talks are underway to revive the agreement, while Moscow assesses that there is no prospect of its reinstatement.