AFP – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday he would make a “very important” announcement on Ukrainian grain exports after his talks in Sochi with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
“I believe the message to be given at the press conference after our meeting will be very important to the world, especially to the underdeveloped African countries,” Erdogan said in opening remarks of his meeting with Putin.
Erdogan, who was flanked by a large delegation that included Turkiye’s defence, foreign, energy and finance ministers, held his first face-to-face meeting with Putin since his re-election in May. Turkiye has been trying to revive a United Nations (UN)-backed agreement that allowed for the safe passage of grain from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports. Russia pulled out of the deal in July.
Turkiye and Russia have enjoyed growing ties in several areas, including energy. Erdogan said his government wanted to boost annual trade with Russia to USD100 billion from USD62 billion, adding that he supported Moscow’s push to switch a part of that trade into liras and rubbles.
“I believe that switching to local currencies is extremely important in bilateral relations,” Erdogan said.
Turkiye is hoping to use the grain agreement as a basis for restarting peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv.
