ISTANBUL, July 5. /TASS/. Turkey is determined to resume the Black Sea grain deal, but this time, it wants the grain corridor to run through its territory and bring agricultural supplies to food insecure African countries, not the West, Turkish leader Tayyip Erdogan told his reporter pool upon his return from Astana, where he took part in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit on July 3-4.

"We have been holding negotiations with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky since the first day of the [Ukrainian] conflict. We discuss with them what our mediation can bring, what it can accomplish. We had the opportunity to discuss mediation issues with Russian President Mr. Putin [on July 3, in Astana]," Erdogan said.

"Things got off to a good start in the Black Sea grain corridor, through which, as you know, we shipped 30 million tons of grain. I asked [the Russian President] how he felt about the idea of getting this process going again, putting aside grain supplies to the West and creating a corridor through Turkey to Africa and other food security-sensitive regions. President Putin responded that on this issue he adheres to "the same goal as the Istanbul grain initiative. It would be useful for us to make headway here." We will continue negotiations within this framework. I hope that owing to our work on this issue, the Black Sea grain corridor will open back up," Erdogan said as quoted by the Anadolu Agency.

According to the Turkish president, the Russian side also has a negative attitude towards grain supplies to Europe, since "in this process, Europe has put a target on Russia’s back."

"As for Africa, Russia, Erdogan noted, "is ready to put all its might into supplying grain to poor countries."

The grain deal was signed in Istanbul on July 22, 2022, and expired on July 17, 2023. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stressed that the West exported most of the Ukrainian grain to the Western states, while the main goal of the deal - supplying grain to countries in need, including African ones - was never implemented.