ANKARA, September 11. /TASS/. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on the West to fulfill the promises given to Russia under the grain deal.
"At this point, Western countries must take measures to fulfill their promises," the TRT television channel quoted him as saying upon arrival from the Group of Twenty summit in India. "Naturally, we raised the issue of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s proposal to send one million tons of grain in the meantime. We ask Mr. Putin to increase this amount. Evidently, the West must implement its obligations in this context. This means not only grain but also fertilizers. The issue of fertilizers cannot be taken lightly."
"Russia’s demands are clear and obvious. There are a number of things Russia considers as non-implemented. [Moscow] wants a mechanism of payment to be created to receive money for the grain they will send via this corridor. It wants restrictions to be lifted with regard to insurance for ships. We are trying to resolve these problems and get results," he said.
According to the Turkish leader, all the leaders at the G20 summit wanted the grain deal to be resumed. "Although Western countries value Turkey’s efforts, they should make them as well and fulfill their promises," he said.
He also said that he had discussed the topic of the grain deal with the G20 leaders during the summit and they had hailed Turkey’s efforts on this matter. "We will continue to work with the same diligence at any negotiating table so that the world is kept from plunging into another food, energy or any other crisis. This issue was the focus of the agenda at the United Nations General Assembly session," Erdogan added.
On July 17, Russia refused to continue its participation in the grain deal, which was reached a year ago to ensure the safe export of Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea. The deal also provided for creating conditions for exporting crops and fertilizers from Russia. Moscow explained its withdrawal from the deal by the non-implementation of the part of the agreement related to the export of Russian products to the global market.
Apart from that, Russian President Vladimir Putin repeatedly pointed to the fact that most of the grain from Ukraine had been shipped to European countries whereas under the deal, it was to go to the poorest countries. Nevertheless, Moscow said that it was ready to resume its participation in the deal only when all obligations concerning Russia were implemented.