ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th August, 2023) Ankara hopes to develop a number of concrete proposals on the resumption of the Black Sea Grain Initiative by an upcoming visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Turkey, a source in the Turkish presidential administration told Sputnik on Thursday.
"Now a number of suggestions on the (grain deal) issue are being worked out. Possibly, there will be some specifics on the matter by the visit (of Putin). The work and a constant dialogue are underway now," the source said.
On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had confirmed during a telephone conversation that they would hold a meeting soon. Peskov added that the time and place of the meeting would be agreed upon later.
On July 18, the Turkey- and UN-mediated Black Sea Grain Initiative, which provided for a humanitarian corridor to allow exports of Ukrainian grain over the past year, expired, as Russia did not renew its participation in the deal. Moscow said that the deal's component on facilitating Russian grain and fertilizer exports had not been fulfilled.
