Putin-Erdogan talks to determine future of grain deal

The upcoming talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will largely determine the future of the Black Sea Grain Deal, which allows the safe passage of Ukrainian grains throught it's ports and the process will be monitored by the United Nations (UN), a source involved in the negotiation process on the grain deal told Russian state-owned news agency Sputnik.

On Friday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Putin's meeting with Erdogan would take place in the near future. Later, a diplomatic source in Ankara told that the meeting between the two leaders would be held in early September, before the G20 summit.

"There are very high hopes for these negotiations, in many ways they will show clarity on the future [of the grain deal], all relevant departments [of Turkiye] are working in this direction. The process is coordinated with the UN, they will also follow these negotiations. We very much hope that they will be held constructively and opportunities will be opened for the resumption of the work of our initiative," the source said.

Earlier, a source involved in the negotiation process told Sputnik, that Turkiye and the United Nations are exploring opportunities for holding talks on the grain deal with the Russian delegation in Istanbul.
"We are now working on the possibilities of this meeting. We are preparing specific proposals for discussion. Contacts are made through the appropriate channels. The process does not stop," the source said.

On July 18, the Turkiye- and UN-mediated Black Sea Grain Initiative, which provided for a humanitarian corridor to allow exports of Ukrainian grain over the past year, expired, as Moscow did not renew its participation in the deal. Moscow emphasized that the deal's component on facilitating Russian grain and fertilizer exports had not been fulfilled, specifically with regard to reconnecting Russian banks to SWIFT and unblocking the Tolyatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline.