Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday after talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin that it will soon be possible to revive the grain agreement that the United Nations claims has helped ease the food crisis by allowing Ukrainian grain to reach the market.
Russia suspended the deal in July - a year after it was brokered by the UN and Turkey - claiming that its food products and fertilizers face serious export barriers.
Erdogan, who previously played a significant role in persuading Putin to stick to the deal, and the UN are trying to persuade Putin to rejoin.
"As Turkey, we believe that we will soon reach a solution that will meet expectations," Erdogan said in the Black Sea resort of Sochi after his first meeting with Putin since 2022.
Putin claims that the West "deceived" Russia about the deal because rich countries receive more than 70 percent of the grain exported under the agreement.
Erdogan said that Russia's expectations are well known to everyone and that the flaws should be removed, adding that Turkey and the UN were working on a new package of proposals to resolve Russian objections.
Standing next to Erdogan, Putin said that Russia can return to understanding, but only if the West stops restricting the access of Russian agricultural products to global markets. He said that the claims of the West that Russia caused the food crisis by suspending its participation in the grain agreement are incorrect because prices did not rise after its exit.
"There is no physical shortage of food," said Putin.
And although Russian food and fertilizer exports are not targeted by Western sanctions imposed after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and Russia exported record amounts of wheat last year, Moscow and agricultural exporters say restrictions on financial transactions, logistics and insurance have threatened shipments.
"The West continues to block the supply of world markets with grain and fertilizer from the Russian Federation," Putin said, adding that the West "deceived" Russia regarding the agreement because rich countries receive over 70 percent of the grain exported under the agreement.
Putin said that Russia expects to harvest 130 million tons of grain this year, of which 60 million tons can be exported.
One of Moscow's main demands is for the Russian Agricultural Bank to be reconnected to the SWIFT international payment system. The EU excluded it in June 2022 as part of sanctions imposed in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
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