“We are preparing to receive Putin here next August,” Erdogan said at a press conference in Istanbul shortly after his return from Brussels, where he was attending a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit.
Despite Erdogan’s assurances in Moscow, the Presidency’s press service clarified that there are currently no definitions for the length of Putin’s visit to the country.
“We have a common position on the agreement on the safe transportation of grain through the Black Sea,” the Turkish president clarified, referring to the quadripartite agreement between Russia, Ukraine, the United Nations and his country signed almost was closed in Istanbul a year ago.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has sent a letter to Putin, and I hope that this letter and the joint efforts of Russia and Turkey can extend the validity of the agreement on grain exports, Erdogan estimated, quoted by broadcaster A Haber.
“We hope that thanks to positions close to Putin, we can solve the problems of the poorest countries in Africa,” said the head of state.
At the time, Russia complained that the Istanbul Accords had been largely broken by the West, as almost nothing had been done to open up access to European ports for Russian ships carrying wheat, fertilizers and other products.
In addition, the president believed that less than 10 percent of grain leaving at least three Ukrainian ports, including Odessa, was destined for poor countries in Africa, while the rest, he stressed, went to European capitals and developed countries .
Moscow questioned the possibility of another extension of the above agreement, as Western states failed to honor many of its points.
Russia also recalled the attacks by Ukrainian surface drones on the ships of the Eurasian giant tasked with patrolling the safe corridor for wheat transportation in the Black Sea.
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