MOSCOW, June 11. /TASS/. Russia values Turkey’s initiatives, including on Black Sea security, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
"I know about [Turkish] President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan’s initiative concerning the situation in the Black Sea," he said. "We are considering Turkey’s initiatives on this track attentively and with respect and will stay in touch with you."
The Russian president hailed Erdogan’s role in the Black Sea grain deal. "It was not our fault that it was not extended, regrettably," Putin said, adding that Ankara’s subsequent initiatives "were turned down by the Ukrainian side at the last moment" as well.
A package of documents geared to resolve the problem of food and fertilizer supplies on global markets was signed on July 22, 2022 in Istanbul for a term of 120 days and was extended three times to be expired on July 17, 2023. One of the agreements regulated grain exports from the Kiev-controlled ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny. Other part of the deal provided for ensuring access to the global markets for Russian agricultural products and fertilizers. This part of the deal was never implemented.
Turkey was making effort to keep the grain deal in place while Kiev suggested that the deal be extended but without taking into account Russia’s position. Moscow and Ankara agreed that the deal had failed to reach its ultimate goal of ensuring smooth supplies of food to the poorest countries.