Turkish, Russian top diplomats to meet in Moscow

ANKARA

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will pay a two-day visit to Moscow on Aug. 31 to hold talks with his counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on the resumption of the grain deal, as well as bilateral matters and regional developments.

A statement released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced that the working visit by Fidan will be held on Aug. 31 -Sept. 1.

“During the visit, issues on our bilateral agenda as well as regional and global developments will be discussed,” it said.

The visit was also confirmed by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova at a press conference on Aug. 30 in Moscow. She informed that talks will cover the international agenda, especially the developments in Ukraine, Syria and Libya. The two ministers will also talk about energy cooperation and the content of the upcoming meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On the top of the agenda of the two ministers will be the resumption of the grain initiative, which was suspended by Russia on July 17. It was aiming to export Russian and Ukrainian grain and other food products to the world markets to avoid a global food crisis. As part of the initiative, more than 33 million tons of grain have been transported to the world markets since it started in July 2022. Russia ended the initiative because it could not sell its own products due to the restrictions on shipment, money transfer and insurance.

Türkiye has been seeking ways to put the grain initiative back on its path, and Fidan held talks in Kiev with Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, to this end. Although Ukraine and some other countries are working on alternative routes to carry Ukrainian wheat, Ankara says the initiative must include Russia for the safety and effectiveness of exporting products to the world markets.

Following Fidan’s trip to Moscow, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is also expected to pay a visit to Sochi to meet Putin. It will probably be held next week before Erdoğan joins the G20 Summit in India on Sept. 9 and 10.