ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th August, 2023) Turkey has prepared a number of specific options for jointly providing food to countries in need with Russia and is discussing these with Moscow, but will not disclose the details until a consensus is reached, a source in Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's administration has told Sputnik.
"Turkey has a number of such specific options (on food supply), we are discussing these with Russia, a dialog is underway on the topic. But there will be no information on this now, we will wait for specific agreements and a consensus," the source said when asked to comment on Turkey's specific initiative on providing food to countries in need.
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 on July 18, as Russia did not renew its participation in the deal. Moscow emphasized that the deal's component on facilitating Russian grain and fertilizer exports had not been fulfilled despite the efforts of the United Nations, specifically with regard to reconnecting Russian banks to SWIFT and unblocking the Tolyatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline.
