President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi to discuss ways to revive the Black Sea Grain deal which Moscow quit in July.
The agreement, initially brokered by Türkiye and the United Nations, had played a significant role in mitigating a global food crisis during the 18-month war in Ukraine. The diplomatic push came after Moscow had temporarily halted the deal over concerns about its own food and fertilizer exports and a perceived shortfall in Ukrainian grain reaching countries in need.
President Erdoğan, upon arriving in Sochi, hinted at an upcoming “very important” announcement regarding the grain corridor after discussions with Putin.
Erdoğan’s role as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia and his continued access to Putin have allowed Türkiye to maintain a unique position within the NATO alliance. This was first meeting between the two leaders since Erdoğan’s reelection for a third presidential term.
Türkiye and Russia have been strengthening their ties, particularly in energy, with the goal of boosting annual trade to $100 billion from the current $62 billion. Erdoğan also supported the idea of conducting a portion of this trade in Turkish liras and rubles.
“I believe that switching to local currencies is extremely important in bilateral relations,” he said.
No new grain deal until restrictions on Moscow’s exports are lifted
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin dashed hopes of reviving the agreement saying that the grain deal won’t be restored until the West meets Moscow’s demands on its agricultural exports. A revival of deal is seen as vital for global food supplies, especially in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Putin said that if a parallel agreement, proposed in July, promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertilizer is honored, Russia could return to the deal “within days.”
While the talks in Sochi hold promise for resolving this issue, the complex geopolitical landscape surrounding the conflict in Ukraine remains a challenging backdrop for negotiations.
One of Russia’s main demands is the reconnection of the Russian Agricultural Bank to the SWIFT international payments system, a request that remains a point of contention. Russia also intensified attacks on Ukrainian grain ports and storage infrastructure since suspending the deal, resulting in significant grain losses.
Grain export to African countries
Separately, Putin announced that Moscow was close to finalizing an agreement, in collaboration with Turkey and Qatar, to enable the free export of grain from Russia to six African countries. Putin emphasized that this deal, involving supply of up to 1 million metric tons of grain to African countries most in need via Türkiye, is not intended as an alternative to the Black Sea initiative.
“We are close to completing agreements with six African states, where we intend to supply foodstuffs for free and even carry out delivery and logistics for free,” Putin told a news conference alongside President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. “Deliveries will begin in the next couple of weeks.”