With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there is an issue that has been burning the world for a year and a half, the “Grain Corridor”; in other words wheat, in other words bread, which is used for political reasons.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Russian Black Sea city of Sochi yesterday to discuss whether the vital grain corridor could be revitalised.
After the meeting, which lasted about 3 hours, the two leaders faced the cameras and made joint statements.
“Cancellation did not affect the global food market”
Stating that the grain corridor was discussed during the meeting, Putin stated that the cancellation of the agreement did not affect the global food market much. Putin said, “We are ready to revive the grain agreement. For the new agreement, sanctions against Russia must be lifted. I clearly told this to Mr Erdogan,” he said.
In order to reduce the impact of the Ukraine-Russia War on global food prices, the UN, Russia, Türkiye and Ukraine signed the Black Sea Grain Corridor Agreement at a ceremony in Istanbul on 22 July 2022. On 17 July 2023, Russia did not reinstate the agreement on the grounds that its demands had not been met.
“Promises must be fulfilled by our Western partners”
Answering a journalist’s question, Putin said of the grain corridor agreement, “Our Western partners defrauded us. If the promises are fulfilled in a few days, we will make our own efforts to continue this grain corridor.”
“Black Sea Initiative was a breathing tube for poor countries”
President Erdoğan, on the other hand, pointed out that the grain agreement put into effect by the Black Sea Initiative was a breathing tube for poor countries and said, “Russia’s demands for the resumption of the initiative are known to all parties. We have expressed the issues raised by our Russian friends on different occasions and we believe that the initiative should be continued by eliminating the deficiencies. We sincerely shared our views on this issue with my dear friend during our meeting.”
Stating that he believes that a result will be obtained from the proposal package prepared by the United Nations, Erdoğan said, “As Turkey, we believe that we will reach a solution that will meet the expectations in a short time.”
However, Putin said at a joint press conference with Erdogan that Guterres’ proposals were nothing more than promises and that the West had not given the green light to the removal of obstacles to Russian products. Putin noted that at this stage it is not possible to revive the grain corridor.
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