On Monday, Erdogan will talk to Putin about peace in Ukraine and the grain deal
Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan will meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday to discuss international efforts to achieve peace in Ukraine, he announced on Sunday. Erdogan will, he said, try to convince Putin to resume the Black Sea agreement on the safe transit of agricultural products, which Russia unilaterally abandoned several months ago.
Turkey, which has been the scene of numerous talks between Kiev and Moscow in the almost four years of war, maintains dialogue with both sides. After the G20 summit in South Africa, Erdogan declared that the so-called grain agreement, with which Ukraine and Russia committed in 2022 to the safe transit of agricultural products (especially cereals and fertilizers) across the Black Sea with inspections in Istanbul to avoid the transport of weapons and from which Russia dissociated itself a year later, was intended to pave the way for a peaceful solution to the conflict.
“We were successful in this to a certain extent, but the thing did not move forward. Now, during the talks we will have tomorrow (Monday), I will ask Putin again. I think it would be very helpful if we could start this process,” Erdogan said.
He also said he would discuss with the Russian autocrat how to “end the deaths” of the war and announced that he would share the results of his talks with Putin with European leaders and the US government.
Erdogan did not directly refer to the peace plan proposed by the United States to end the war, which is being discussed in Switzerland on Sunday between representatives of the United States, Ukraine, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The plan is not liked by Europe, which considers it too unbalanced towards Russia and was drawn up without European participation. (Reuters)
