Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan discusses “grain deal” with Lavrov and Guterres

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres about Russia’s withdrawal from the grain deal. This was reported by Hurriyet Daily News.

The purpose of the talks was to reach an agreement that would allow Ukrainian grain to continue to enter international markets through the Turkish Straits.

The Russian side reported that Lavrov repeated Russian arguments to Fidan about why Moscow decided to withdraw from the agreement and that the ministers discussed other options for grain supplies to the poorest countries “that would not depend on the subversive actions of Kyiv and its Western patrons.”

In addition to the grain deal, they also discussed bilateral issues.

On July 17, the Russian dictator’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the grain deal had been effectively suspended. On the same day, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that the Black Sea Initiative would cease to function on July 18. Russia is withdrawing its guarantees of safety of navigation.

According to Peskov, Russia “will immediately return to the ‘grain deal’ as soon as the agreements related to it are fulfilled.”

It was also reported that on the morning of July 16, the last ship with Ukrainian grain under the grain deal left the port of Odesa.

For its part, China hopes that the Black Sea Grain Initiative to transport grain from Ukraine through the Black Sea will continue to be fully implemented.

Tags: Russia, Turkey, UN, Black Sea grain deal