Putin to Visit Türkiye

  The presidents of Russia and Turkey reached an agreement in a telephone conversation about Vladimir Putin's visit to Ankara. As the start of the war between Ukraine and Russia which are the world's two major grain producing countries on February 24, 2022, the global market is facing a crisis. Finally, with the presence of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the two sides signed a grain export agreement known as the Black Sea Initiative in Istanbul. The purpose of this agreement is to send grain to countries in need. The validity period of this agreement ended about two weeks ago after several extensions. The failure to protect Russia's interests from the grain agreement led Moscow to refuse to renew it.

According to the TRT channel, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday (2/8/2023) stressed the importance of the Black Sea Initiative as a bridge of peace "Stopping the Black Sea Initiative in the long term does not make sense for any interests, especially low-income countries that need grain will suffer the most," Erdogan said. Alluding to the 15 percent increase in wheat prices, the Turkish President said that Ankara will continue efforts and intensive diplomacy to pass on the Black Sea Initiative. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier in a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan confirmed that Moscow would not return to the grain agreement as long as Western countries blocked exports of Russian agricultural products and chemical fertilizers. Erdogan in a telephone conversation with Putin expressed his gratitude for Moscow sending two firefighting planes to this country to deal with fires in the forests of Turkey.(PH)