Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is scheduled to visit Russia’s coastal city of Sochi in the near future, as announced by a Turkish official on Monday.
“Our president has so far carried out the initiative with the highest diplomatic sensitivity so that the world does not face a food crisis. He will have a visit to Sochi soon,” Ömer Çelik, the spokesman for the Justice and Development (AK) Party, told reporters in the capital Ankara.
Çelik stated that there could be further developments regarding the Black Sea grain deal following the visit.
No alternatives to grain corridor
Türkiye is actively working to revive the deal and underscores that there are no viable alternatives to this initiative.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is also expected to visit Russia soon to hold face-to-face talks for the resumption of the deal.
On July 17, Russia suspended its participation in the Black Sea grain deal, brokered by Türkiye and the UN to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports that were paused after the Russia-Ukraine war started in February 2022.
Moscow has repeatedly complained that the West has not met its obligations regarding Russia’s own grain exports. It says restrictions on payments, logistics, and insurance have been a barrier to its shipments.
Ankara has been carrying out intense efforts for the restoration of the July 2022 deal and has also called on Kyiv and Moscow to end the war through negotiations.