Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan stated that his country is in close communication with the United Nations regarding the revival of the Black Sea grain initiative. He mentioned that he will discuss this matter with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during the upcoming general assembly meeting. Erdogan made these remarks following his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, asserting that the latest U.N. proposal aims to address some of Russia’s demands, and expressing his confidence in finding a solution in the near future.
Erdogan reported that Russia has put forward several demands, including the reintegration of its Agricultural Bank into the SWIFT payments system and the insurance of ships involved in the grain initiative. He added that the U.N. Secretary General proposed an intermediary mechanism resulting from the SWIFT transaction, rather than directly implementing SWIFT as the Russians desired. Erdogan further stated that efforts are being made to address the insurance issue.
Russian demands are seen as crucial for reviving the Black Sea Grain Initiative, and according to Erdogan, Putin has made it clear that he will not take any action until “Europe keeps the promises they made me,” as reported by Turkish media. Turkey, as a member of NATO, is working to convince Russia to rejoin the initiative, which was previously brokered by Ankara and the United Nations. Russia had withdrawn from the initiative in July following a year of protected exports from Ukrainian ports due to the ongoing war.
On Monday, Putin reiterated that Russia could rejoin the initiative, but only if the West stops restricting Russian agricultural exports from accessing global markets. Erdogan mentioned that he will have discussions with Guterres regarding these matters during the G20 summit in India on September 9-10 and the U.N. General Assembly in New York on September 18-26.
The news report was contributed by Tuvan Gumrukcu and written by Daren Butler. It was edited by Jonathan Spicer.
Credit: The Star : News Feed
