ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that the renewal of a deal with Moscow to allow Ukrainian grain exports brokered by the UN and Turkey “depends on Western nations which should keep their pledges”.
West Should Keep ‘Pledges’ on Ukraine Grain Agreement: Erdogan
“A solution can be found,” President Erdogan said, mentioning to a recent telephone conversation with the Russian President, who rejected to extend the agreement.
Ankara was a key country in the now-collapsed agreement that permitted for safe passage of Ukrainian grain consignments through the Black Sea. The agreement, brokered by the UN and Turkey in July 2022, expired last month after Russia declined to renew it.
Earlier, during a joint news conference with Ukrainian President Zelensky, President Erdogan announced that Russian President Putin would visit Ankara in August.
But Russia was angry when President Zelensky returned from Turkey with five top commanders of Ukraine, who were supposed to have remained in Ankara until the end of the war under a prisoner exchange agreement with Russia.
In a statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov termed it a direct violation” of the deal with Ankara.
Ankara has managed to maintain friendly relations with both Moscow and Kyiv throughout the conflict.
