Putin's grain agreement fallout puts Erdoğan in spotlight

For months, the eyes and ears of the world have been on news coming from Ukraine. The war, which started in February of last year under the orders of Russian President Putin, continues at full speed in the eastern regions of Ukraine.

News from Russia remains the number one global agenda.

Moscow announced to the world that it will not renew the grain agreement, which allows Ukrainian agricultural products to reach world markets. With this decision, the vital access to grains for millions of people worldwide is at risk, and once again, Turkey is involved in the agreement.

Since Moscow's departure from the grain corridor agreement, a critical phone call between President Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin was expected and it took place.

International news agencies served the call and subsequent statements to their subscribers with the 'urgent' code, and many media outlets featured the developments in their headlines.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) used the headline 'Erdoğan urged Putin not to escalate tensions in Ukraine,' drawing attention to Erdogan's significance in the process, and stating that Erdoğan was a key player in the now-defunct agreement that allowed the safe passage of Ukrainian grain shipments through the Black Sea.

Qatar-based Al Jazeera reported that Putin asked for Erdoğan's help to export grains to African countries facing food shortages. The report stated, 'Russian President Vladimir Putin asked his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to help Russia export its grains to African countries experiencing food shortages.'

CNBC, a US-based news outlet, reported that Putin plans to visit Türkiye and reminded that this is a rare move for the Russian leader in recent times. They mentioned, 'Putin, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, has not made an official visit abroad this year.'