Istanbul: President Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey stated on Saturday that he was urging Russia to extend a Black Sea grain agreement by at least three months and that President Vladimir Putin would be visiting Turkey in August.
He was speaking with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky at a joint press conference after the two met to discuss the outcome of a deal. mediated by Turkiye and the UN last year to permit grain exports from Ukrainian ports via the Black Sea in safety despite the conflict.
Zelensky's visit came after stops in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic as a result of a tour of some NATO capitals intended to persuade them to take decisive action at a summit next week in order to grant Kyiv membership in the alliance, which Erdogan claimed Ukraine deserved.
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According to Erdogan, efforts are being made to extend the Black Sea grain agreement beyond its current expiration date of July 17 and for longer periods after that. He said that when he and Putin met in Turkey the following month, the deal would be one of the top topics on the agenda.
"We hope that rather than every two months, it will be extended at least once every three months. At the press conference with Zelensky, he declared, "We will make an effort in this regard and try to increase the duration of it to two years.
Both men claimed to have discussed the issue of prisoner exchanges, which Zelensky claimed had been the first item on their agenda, which is another crucial issue for Erdogan's negotiations with Putin. I'm hoping for a quick resolution to this," Erdogan said.
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Zelensky said he would wait for the outcome before making any further comments, but he made it clear that the conversation had focused on specifics regarding the return of all captives, including children who had been sent to Russia and other groups.
He referred to the Muslim residents of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014, as "Crimean Tatars," adding, "We are working on the return of our captives, political prisoners, and Crimean Tatars." "All the lists are with our partners. On this, we are really working.
According to Erdogan, the subject may also come up in his conversations with the Russian president prior to his visit. We will also talk about it on the call if we make some calls first, he said.
The Kremlin stated that it would be closely monitoring the negotiations and that Putin had greatly valued Erdogan's efforts to mediate the conflict in Ukraine.
Before the start of the talks with Zelensky in Istanbul on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, "As for future contacts between Putin and Erdogan, we do not rule them out in the near future." Russia has threatened not to permit the grain deal's further extension past July 17 because it is upset about certain aspects of its implementation.
Turkiye, a NATO member, has maintained friendly ties with both Russia and Ukraine over the course of the war's 16-month duration, and last year it assisted in arranging prisoner exchanges.
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Turkiye, in addition to arming Ukraine and urging for the respect of its sovereignty, has not joined its Western allies in imposing economic sanctions against Russia.