Turkey's Erdogan to visit Russia 'soon' to discuss Black Sea grain deal
After Russia unilaterally withdrew from the Black Sea grain deal that Turkey brokered, reviving the deal is seen as a foreign policy priority by Erdogan.
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Much of the wold will be hoping that Turkey can talk Russia down from its opposition to the deal [Getty]
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Russia soon to discuss the collapsed United Nations deal that had allowed Black Sea exports of Ukrainian grain, a spokesperson for Turkey's ruling AK Party said on Monday.
The Turkey-brokered deal supported by the UN lasted a year but ended last month after Moscow quit. Ankara is seeking to persuade Russia to return to the agreement, under which Odesa's seaports shipped tens of millions of tons of grain.
Since the grain-export deal collapsed, Russian forces have targeted Ukrainian ports with volleys of missiles and kamikaze drones.
Omer Celik, the AK Party spokesperson, said Erdogan would visit Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi "soon" but did not specify whether he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"After this visit there may be developments and new stages may be reached regarding" the grain deal, he told reporters.
The Kremlin said on Friday there was an understanding the two leaders will meet in person soon.
Bloomberg cited two anonymous sources in reporting that Erdogan is expected to meet Putin in Russia next week, possibly on Sept. 8, before he travels to a G20 meeting in India.
(Reuters and The New Arab Staff)
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