TURKEY SAYS RUSSIA AGREES TO REJOIN GRAIN DEAL

Wed 02 November 2022:

Russia has agreed to rejoin a Turkish and UN-brokered deal on the shipment of millions of tons Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, Turkey’s president has said.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister, had called his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar and informed him that the grain corridor agreement would “continue in the same way as before” as of Wednesday.

“After our phone conversation with Vladimir Putin yesterday, as of noon today, grain shipments will continue as previously planned,” Erdoğan said at the Justice and Development (AK) Party‘s group meeting in parliament.

Erdoğan said he will have a phone call later on Wednesday with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

Erdogan added that the deal would prioritise shipments to African nations, including Somalia, Djibouti and Sudan, in line with Russia’s concerns that most of the grain was ending up in richer nations.

Russia will resume its participation in the Black Sea grain deal, the defence ministry said on Wednesday.

“The Russian Federation considers that the guarantees received at the moment appear sufficient, and resumes the implementation of the agreement,” the defence ministry said in a statement.

The export deal was agreed upon by Russia and Ukraine and brokered by Türkiye and the United Nations in July to ease a world hunger crisis caused in part by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, a major grain producer, and an earlier blockade of its ports. It is due to expire on Nov. 19.

Russia suspended its participation in the grain deal over the weekend, citing allegations of a Ukrainian drone attack against its Black Sea fleet, and the United Nations had said vessels would not move on Wednesday, raising concerns about future shipments.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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