ANKARA, September 18. /TASS/. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin to "cautiously proceed with" discussions on grain and fertilizer supplies via the maritime corridor in the Black Sea.
"We are undoubtedly engaging in talks with corresponding states on all types of products coming from both Russia and Ukraine. It can be grain products and fertilizers. There have been no problems in the negotiation process. During our meeting with Mr. Putin, we agreed to cautiously proceed with this process," the Turkish leader was quoted as saying by the TRT channel after the summit in Samarkand.
The Turkish leader went on to say that he, together with Putin,"spoke in favor of using the grain corridor for the benefit of poorly developed nations."
"Naturally, President Putin emphasized this issue as well. In the future, we will closely monitor the supply process so that the corridor would benefit poorly developed nations as much as possible," he added.
A package of documents aimed at resolving the issue of food and fertilizer supplies to global markets was signed in Istanbul on July 22. Under a Russia-UN memorandum, the United Nations engaged in efforts to lift anti-Russian restrictions preventing the export of agricultural products and fertilizers. Another document created a mechanism to export grain from Ukraine-controlled Black Sea ports. The deal inked between Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN established a four-party coordination center whose representatives will inspect grain ships in order to prevent arms smuggling and false flag operations.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the Eastern Economic Forum last week that almost all the agricultural products shipped from Ukraine had gone to EU countries, with only two vessels out of 87 sailing to poorest countries.