A key topic at the talks, which are scheduled to begin in the afternoon, is Erdogan’s demand to return to the agreement on the shipment of Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea. This is important for feeding the world.
Turkey is also concerned about security in the Black Sea region, Ankara said. Putin had set conditions for returning to the agreement reached last year with the mediation of the Erdogan government and the United Nations. Sanctions imposed by the West in the wake of Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine should be eased so that Moscow can again export its grain and fertilizers without hindrance. Russian gas deliveries through the Black Sea are also important for Turkey.
This is the first meeting between the two heads of state after Erdogan’s re-election in May. Relations between the two countries are by no means untouched; They are not the only conflicting parties in civil war-torn Syria. In the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, Turkey sides with Azerbaijan, which won a war over the territory against Armenia in 2020. Armenia, on the other hand, feels abandoned by Putin and Russia, the protective power.
In the war in Ukraine, the Turkish President acts as a mediator between Moscow and Kiev and maintains close contacts with both sides of the conflict. NATO member Turkey is not participating in the West’s sanctions against Russia.
Russia let the grain agreement expire in July. Security guarantees for shipping from Ukrainian ports have been removed. This started a new naval blockade. Earlier, despite the Russian aggression, Ukraine, an agricultural country, had exported about 33 million tonnes of grain and other agricultural products by sea from summer 2022. The war-torn country is immediately dependent on export earnings.
Ukraine and Russia are important suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other food products – particularly to Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia. Before the war began, Russia was also the world’s largest exporter of fertilizer. The failure of these supplies following the Russian invasion in February 2022 caused food prices to rise around the world and raised fears of a hunger crisis in poor countries.
Russia recently launched missile and drone attacks on Black Sea and Danube ports in the Odessa region of southern Ukraine, destroying infrastructure critical to grain exports. So Ukraine accused Russia of terrorism, aimed at preventing the transportation of grain, which is vital for world nutrition, to places like Africa or Asia. There are no UN or Ukraine representatives at the talks in Sochi, so a lasting breakthrough is unlikely.
Shortly before the new Russian attacks over the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that two more cargo ships had passed through the grain corridor in the Black Sea established by Kiev. Following Russia’s withdrawal from the agreement, Kiev is trying to organize exports despite the risk of Moscow attacks.
Russia had threatened to view ships arriving at Ukrainian ports as vessels carrying military cargo. Zelensky now once again called on Western allies to supply even more anti-aircraft systems to better protect the region from Russian attacks.
