Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Erdoğan, Putin Discuss Establishment of Grain Corridors


Mon 11 Jul 2022 | 04:30 PM
Omnia Ahmed

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's had a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Monday, and addressed the Ukrainian crisis.

"The two leaders discussed the situation in Syria, the situation in Ukraine in the light of Russia’s military operations, the establishment of safe corridors for exporting grain by the Black Sea," the Turkish President's office said.

Erdoğan stressed that "it is high time to take action to implement the UN plan for the establishment of corridors to export grain," the statement added.

In the same vein, he called for a "lasting and fair" settlement of the Ukrainian crisis by peaceful means, at the negotiating table. Erdoğan noted that Turkey is ready to continue its efforts to help enliven the negotiating process between Russia and Ukraine.

After a NATO summit in Madrid, Erdoğan asserted that Ankara is ready to reexport agricultural products across the Black Sea. He noted that around 20 Turkish ships are staying at Ukrainian ports and ready to ship grain.

In May, Putin had a call with his Turkish counterpart and affirmed that Moscow is ready to export fertilizers and foods if the West lifted sanctions.

“In the light of problems on the global food market occurred in consequence of the unwise financial and economic policy of Western states, it was confirmed that Russia can export considerable volumes of fertilizers and agricultural produce in case relevant anti-Russian sanction restrictions are lifted,” the statement read.

During a plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on 17 June, the Russian leader stated that Moscow would boost grain exports by some 50 million tonnes to Africa and the Middle East.