ISTANBUL, August 24. /TASS/. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will visit Moscow in September for talks to revive the grain deal, Turkey’s Milliyet newspaper reported, citing sources.
Also, the newspaper said, grain talks between Russian, UN and Turkish officials can take place in Istanbul, a scenario to revive the initiative. If those are a success, an Istanbul meeting involving Ukraine may follow later on, Milliyet said.
According to the newspaper, the Turkish president’s top adviser Cagatay Kilic visited Kiev on August 23, and Fidan will travel to the Ukrainian capital on August 25. The senior Turkish officials’ agenda includes efforts to restore the implementation of the Black Sea Initiative grain deal.
The grain deal ended in July. Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier that Moscow had originally agreed to participate in the deal on the condition that its terms to remove illegitimate obstacles to the supply of grain and fertilizers from Russia to world markets would be observed. But none of these conditions was met, despite UN efforts. The Russian leader has repeatedly said that, although the Istanbul agreements were intended to ensure food security for the neediest countries, including in Africa, the bulk of Ukraine’s grain actually went to wealthy Western countries. Nevertheless, Moscow said it would be ready to go back to being a part of the grain deal, but only under the condition that all the obligations to the country are fulfilled.