Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet in Sochi on the Black Sea, the same place where they already discussed last August.
Although Erdogan tried in vain to invite Putin to a meeting in Turkey, the Russian president, who has not left his country for quite some time, refused to budge.
However, the fact that the meeting took place is still remarkable, because Putin – since he was isolated on the international stage due to the war in Ukraine – is only willing to meet personally with his closest allies, such as the Belarusian president, or with the leaders of states that do not threaten his role in world politics, such as interim President of Burkina Faso.
The Kremlin has repeatedly said it is willing to return to the grain agreement if its demands are met. This was also confirmed by the Russian Foreign Minister on Thursday when he received the Turkish Foreign Minister in Moscow. So this is the official part of the Putin-Erdogan meeting.
The previous agreement allowed Ukraine to ship grain and other foodstuffs from three Ukrainian ports. Meanwhile, Russia received a promise from the UN that its food and fertilizer shipments could reach world markets. However, as Russia’s access to global payment systems is limited, Moscow unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in June this year, saying that its conditions had not been met.
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