Turkish president says he will speak with Putin to revive Black Sea Grain Initiative

Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Tuesday he plans to speak with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to revive the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

"We will soon meet with Russian President Putin and say, 'Let us do everything we can to keep the Grain Corridor operational.' Hopefully, we will continue on our way with positive answers," Erdoğan said while speaking to journalists on board the presidential plane returning from Hungary.

Describing the grain corridor mechanism as a "positive step" toward a "just" world, he said Türkiye will monitor the follow-up of this plan.

"Let's find a way to operate the grain corridor, no matter what," Erdoğan stressed.


On July 17, Russia withdrew from the Black Sea grain deal, saying that the Russian part of the agreement had not been implemented. It sought the loosening of banking restrictions and the ability to ship its fertilizer before returning to the agreement.

The agreement, initially signed in July of last year in Istanbul by Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine, was aimed at resuming grain exports from Ukrainian ports halted due to the Russia-Ukraine war, which began in February 2022.

In August, Ukraine declared that temporary corridors have been established for merchant vessels arriving at and departing from the country's ports in the Black Sea.

'POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS' IN F-16 SALE BY US

Erdoğan said his US counterpart Joe Biden stated he will have the US Congress approval for F-16 sales after the Turkish parliament ratifies Sweden's NATO bid.

"If we operate this simultaneously, we will have the opportunity to pass this through parliament much more easily," Erdoğan quoted Biden as telling him.

Speaking to journalists on Tuesday aboard his plane returning from Hungary, President Erdoğan said: "Another complicating factor in the parliamentary process is the negative stance of Canada and some allies on defense procurement. All of these are interconnected."

"Positive developments on both the F-16 issue with the US and Canada's fulfillment of its promises will accelerate our parliament's favorable view," the Turkish president added.

Erdoğan said Sweden gave Türkiye assurances in the NATO summit held in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July, adding: "We are expecting these assurances to be fulfilled and closely monitoring the developments."

Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership shortly after Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022.

Although Türkiye approved Finland's NATO membership, it is waiting for Sweden to fulfill its commitments not to provide shelter to terrorists or supporters of terrorists and not to facilitate their actions.

Erdoğan signed Sweden's NATO accession protocol and submitted it to parliament in October for a ratification vote.

Türkiye is seeking to purchase from the US the latest model F-16 Block 70 aircraft, as well as 79 modernization kits to upgrade its remaining F-16s to Block 70 level.