NEW DELHI, September 10. /TASS/. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that he will continue close communication will all sides that are interested in the implementation of the grain deal.

"More than 33 million tons of food reached markets under the deal. The agreements were extended three time with my personal participation. During my recent talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, we discussed this topic very thoroughly. And we will continue to discuss it in close contact with Russia, Ukraine and all parties concerned," he told a news conference after the Group of Twenty summit in New Delhi.

He stressed that the grain deal "made it possible to avoid a food crisis in the world."

At the same time, the Turkish leader noted that out of the 33 million tons of grain exported under the deal "the West received 44%, fourteen percent were supplied to Turkey and only 14% went to African countries."

On July 17, Russia refused to continue its participation in the grain deal, which was reached a year ago to ensure safe exports of Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea. The deal also provided for creating conditions for exporting farming products and fertilizers from Russia. Moscow explained its withdrawal from the deal by the non-implementation of the part of the deal related to Russian exports to the global market.

Apart from that, Russian President Vladimir Putin repeatedly pointed to the fact that most of the grain from Ukraine had been shipped to European countries whereas under the deal, it was to go to the poorest countries. Nevertheless, Moscow said that it was ready to resume its participation in the deal only when all obligations concerning Russia were implemented.