Erdogan: Prompt Restoration of Black Sea Grain Deal Possible

After discussions with Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Monday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan stated that there are prospects for reinvigorating the grain agreement. The United Nations has acknowledged this agreement as instrumental in alleviating a food crisis by facilitating the transportation of Ukrainian grain to the market.

In July, Russia withdrew from the agreement, which had been brokered by the United Nations and Turkey a year prior. Russia cited significant challenges to its own food and fertilizer exports as the reason for its exit from the deal.

Erdogan, who had previously played a crucial role in persuading Putin to uphold the agreement, is now working alongside the United Nations in their joint efforts to encourage Putin to reconsider his stance and rejoin the deal.

“As Turkey, we believe that we will reach a solution that will meet the expectations in a short time,” Erdogan stated following his initial in-person meeting with Putin since 2022.

Erdogan highlighted that Russia’s expectations were widely understood, and efforts should be made to address any shortcomings. He also noted that Turkey and the United Nations had jointly crafted a fresh set of proposals designed to address Russian concerns.

Erdogan suggested that Ukraine should adopt a more flexible stance in negotiations with Russia regarding the revival of the deal. He recommended that Ukraine consider exporting more grain to Africa rather than Europe.

“Ukraine needs to especially soften its approaches in order for it to be possible for joint steps to be taken with Russia,” he noted to reporters.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, speaking on Ukrainian television, affirmed that Kyiv would maintain its current position but would consider Turkey’s account of the discussions in Sochi.

“We should not continue to be hostages to Russian blackmail, where Russia creates problems and then invites everyone to solve them,” said Kuleba.

“It is clear that we will stand in defence of all principled positions, especially regarding sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation.”

While alongside Erdogan, Putin reiterated Russia’s stance, indicating a willingness to return to the deal, provided that Western restrictions on Russian agricultural exports to global markets were lifted. Additionally, a separate memorandum, agreed upon with the United Nations, outlines conditions aimed at facilitating Russia’s food and fertilizer exports.

Revitalizing the Grain Agreement

“We will be ready to consider the possibility of reviving the grain deal and I told Mr President about this again today – we will do this as soon as all the agreements on lifting restrictions on the export of Russian agricultural products are fully implemented,” said Putin.

Putin contested Western claims that Russia had exacerbated a food crisis by suspending its participation in the grain deal, asserting that prices did not increase upon Russia’s exit from the agreement.

“There is no physical shortage of food,” Putin said.

Russian exports of food and fertilizer remain unaffected by Western sanctions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Russia even achieved record wheat exports last year. However, Moscow and agricultural exporters contend that impediments related to payment, logistics, and insurance have hampered these shipments.

“The West continues to block the supply of grain and fertilisers from the Russian Federation to world markets,” Putin remarked, and added that the West had “cheated” Russia over the deal because countries received more than 70% of the grain exported under the agreement.

Russia and Ukraine are globally significant agricultural producers, wielding substantial influence in markets related to wheat, barley, maize, rapeseed, rapeseed oil, sunflower seed, and sunflower oil.

Putin stated that Russia anticipated a grain harvest of 130 million tonnes for the current year, with the potential for exporting 60 million tonnes of that harvest.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced on Thursday that he had forwarded “a set of concrete proposals” to Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, with the aim of revitalizing the deal.

Moscow’s key request is to reconnect the Russian Agricultural Bank to the SWIFT international payments system, which the European Union severed in June 2022 amid extensive sanctions following the invasion.

Putin clarified that the proposal to provide up to 1 million tonnes of Russian grain to Turkey at reduced prices for further processing in Turkish facilities and shipment to countries in urgent need was not meant as an alternative to the grain deal.

He additionally mentioned that Russia was nearing an agreement with six African nations for a proposal to provide Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic, and Eritrea with a generous donation of up to 50,000 tonnes of grain each at no cost.

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