capitals (agencies)
A diplomatic source said that Turkey has intensified talks with Ukraine, the United States and the European Union over the grain deal, in preparation for the possible meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
“Turkey has intensified multilateral diplomatic efforts with Ukraine, the United States and the European Union regarding the grain deal, and the ministries of foreign affairs, defense and trade are participating in this effort,” the source added, according to the Russian news agency Tass. “Before Erdogan and Putin’s meeting, work was intensified to resolve the problems facing the implementation of the grain initiative,” the source said.
On the other hand, Turkish media reported that “Putin will visit Turkey in the coming days,” noting that if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not visit Turkey, Erdogan will travel to the Russian Federation instead.
Yesterday, data from the Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture showed that the total Ukrainian grain exports amounted to 3.12 million tons since the start of the 2023-2024 season, which began in July and ends next June. The ministry did not provide figures for the same period a year earlier, but said shipments amounted to 2.65 million tons as of August 15, 2022. Ukrainian exports have been affected since Russia’s withdrawal last month from the UN-backed agreement to export grain across the Black Sea, but the ministry’s data did not disclose Details of exports since the deal collapsed. The ministry said Ukraine had exported 848,000 tons of grain since the beginning of August.
The total amount of grain exports since the beginning of this season included 1.48 million tons of corn, 1.25 million tons of wheat and 385 thousand tons of barley.
Exports in the entire 2022-2023 season amounted to nearly 49 million tons, exceeding the previous season’s amount of 48.4 million tons.
Most of the quantities were exported through the Black Sea ports under the agreement, which was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July to address a global food crisis exacerbated by the Ukrainian crisis.
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