Status: 11.12.2022 3:45 p.m
Turkish President Erdogan has spoken with Kremlin chief Putin about expanding the grain agreement to export across the Black Sea to other goods. He also called for a security corridor on his country’s border with Syria.
According to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the agreement on exporting Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea is to be extended to other goods. Preparations to export food and other goods could begin gradually, Erdogan said in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to his office.
The Kremlin announced in Moscow that the grain agreement was complex. Restrictions on exports of Russian grain and fertilizer should also be lifted.
In July, Russia and Ukraine, mediated by Turkey and the United Nations, reached an agreement that would allow Ukrainian grain to be exported through a Black Sea corridor. This ended a month-long blockade of Ukrainian grain exports in the course of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
Security corridor required in Syria
In talks with Putin, Erdogan also called for a 30-kilometer-wide security corridor on his country’s border with Syria, his office said. Turkey is currently using airstrikes against the Kurdish militia YPG in Syria and is threatening a ground offensive.
Russia is the main supporter of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad and has been working towards reconciliation between Erdogan and Assad in recent months. Syrian troops are working closely with Turkey in the north of the country.
According to the Kremlin, the phone call was also about joint energy projects. The two heads of state had discussed creating a gas hub in Turkey. The head of the Russian state-owned company Gazprom, Alexej Miller, had already conducted negotiations on this last week.