ROME, August 7. /TASS/. Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani expressed hope that a potential tete-a-tete meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin could pave the way for an agreement on renewed grain exports via the Black Sea.

"Grain and cereal prices are growing, which is the main problem. There needs to be an agreement between Russia and Ukraine brokered by Turkey, the only country that is capable of doing that at this point," he said in an interview with the La Stampa newspaper.

Speaking about the Russian leader’s potential visit to Turkey in August, Tajani said he expected that "an agreement will be found." According to the top Italian diplomat, the recent consultations on Ukraine that took place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, "are very important, particularly because of Beijing’s participation." "I hope that China will be able to take part in this peace dialogue. I will make a trip to China in September and we will talk about it as well," Tajani added.

The presidents of Russia and Turkey agreed to make preparations for their potential meeting in a telephone call on August 2. Putin stressed that Russia was determined to cooperate with Turkey and other interested countries in developing options for delivering Russian grain supplies to countries in need. Erdogan, in turn, assured Moscow that Ankara would continue to make active diplomacy-based efforts to renew the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Pro-government Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported that Putin was expected to visit Turkey in the last week of August. According to the paper, the agenda of talks between the Russian president and his Turkish counterpart will include issues related to the restoration of the grain deal, bilateral ties, relations between Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia, and ways to normalize Turkey-Syria relations.