Turkey, a NATO member country but with good relations with Russia, failed on Monday to reactivate the agreement that for a year allowed Ukrainian cereal exports through the Black Sea, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan intended during their meeting. with Vladimir Putin in the Russian city of Sochi. Both agreed that the talks were “constructive”, but the Kremlin chief repeated his well-known position: that he is willing to relaunch the grain pact if Russia’s conditions are met. Moscow withdrew from this initiative last July.
“We will do it as soon as all the agreements contained in (the agreement) on lifting restrictions on the export of Russian agricultural products are fully implemented,” Putin said after the summit in a joint appearance before the press.
The Russian head of state accused Western countries of continuing to block compliance with Russian requirements for the pact to be resumed, including the export of Russian grains.
Russia’s conditions are: reconnection of the Rosseljozbank bank to the SWIFT banking system (the European Union disconnected it last year), the resumption of supplies of components for agricultural machinery and the lifting of restrictions on the export of Russian fertilizers.
Erdogan said it is possible to find a solution soon to revive the agreement. “We believe that the initiative must be maintained to eliminate the deficiencies (of the pact). In this context, we have prepared a package containing new suggestions in consultation with the United Nations,” he said at the press conference. “I believe that it is possible to move forward, that we will reach a solution that meets expectations in a short time.”
In this sense, he asked that Ukraine also do its part. “Ukraine must, of course, soften its positions in order to take shared steps with Russia,” she said. And he insisted that it must be done without delay so that the grain can reach “the poorest countries in Africa.”
“If 40 percent of this cereal is sent to European countries, it is clear that Russia does not see it positively, and rightly so,” he added. And he gave some data, pointing out that so far “14%” of the shipments have been sent to Turkey within the framework of the grain pact and “around 6% to African countries.”
In return, Putin announced that Russia is about to conclude negotiations with six African countries on the delivery of free grain. It is also ready to transfer one million tons of grain to Turkey for processing and subsequent supply to poorer countries, the Russian leader said.
“In this regard, we count on the help of the state of Qatar, which for humanitarian reasons is ready to support the poorest countries,” Putin said. But he made it clear that the deal between Russia, Turkey and Qatar will not replace the Black Sea grain deal, but will be a “great contribution” to solving problems.
Russia and Ukraine signed separately with Turkey and the UN last year the grain deal, called the Black Sea Initiative. Its goal was to transport grain from Ukraine to global markets via the Black Sea and alleviate the global food crisis that the United Nations says has been exacerbated by Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine, launched in February last year by order of Putin.
Russia and Ukraine are two of the world’s leading agricultural producers and players in the markets for wheat, barley, corn, rapeseed, rapeseed oil, sunflower seeds, and sunflower oil.
The agreement was extended several times, but on July 17, Moscow announced that it was suspending its participation.
A second part of the agreements involved a memorandum agreed with the UN, according to which restrictions on Russian agricultural exports were to be relaxed. Russia maintains that Western countries were to blame for Russia leaving the agreement by failing to comply with this part.
