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Top Turkish, Russian diplomats discuss Ukraine, grain deal – source

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held telephone talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov

ANKARA, July 9. /TASS/. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held telephone talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, a source in the Turkish foreign ministry told TASS on Sunday.

"The ministers discussed Ukraine and the recent developments around the Istanbul grain agreement," the source said.

After his talks with visiting Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on July 7 that Ankara would like the grain deal extending on July 17 to be extended.

On July 22, 2022, a package of documents on the supply of food and fertilizers to the international market was signed in Istanbul. The agreements were originally concluded for a period of 120 days. They were extended for the same period last November. On March 18, 2023, Russia announced the extension of the deal for 60 days. The grain deal was extended for two more months on May 18. However, Russia warned that this period of time would be enough to see if the memorandum signed with the UN was being implemented.

Russia’s foreign ministry has repeatedly stressed that only the Black Sea Initiative is being implemented while nothing has been done under the Russia-UN memorandum. The memorandum guarantees the implementation of Russia’s demands concerning exports of its food and fertilizers, re-connecting Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT and some other matters. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told an online briefing on June 30 that Russia sees no point in extending the grain deal.

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