MOSCOW, July 22. /TASS/. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu went to Turkey, where an agreement for Ukrainian grain exports is being prepared for signing Friday, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"We can confirm that Defense Minister Shoigu went to Turkey. We can confirm that the signing is being prepared today, but let's wait, let's not get ahead of ourselves yet," he said when asked if Shoigu arrived in Turkey for the signing of the grain agreement.
The Kremlin spokesman declined to disclose details of the document, as the agreement has not yet been signed.
"If things do come to completion there, then there will be explanations," he said.
To a question why the agreement is important for Russia, Peskov referred reporters to the statements made by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Tehran. "Putin said that in the context of a looming food crisis, it’s very important to unblock the supply routes to world markets for fertilizers, food, and grain," he said.
The Kremlin spokesman said "the relatively small amount of Ukrainian grain" will not provide great help in this situation. Still, he said it’s "very important that this grain gets to the world markets" and indirect restrictions on Russian supplies are lifted so that the market gets more fertilizers, grain and other products.
Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov said on July 15 that
participants of the meeting on the "grain issue" in Turkey on July 13 largely supported Russian proposals and the work on the final document of "Black Sea Initiative" will be completed in the near future. The issue of creating a grain corridor was discussed in Tehran by the presidents of Russia and Turkey.