During a press conference following the meeting with Erdogan, Putin said that Russia is ready to restart the grain deal, but only when its conditions for lifting sanctions on Russian agricultural exports are met. Until then, Russia intends to export its food and fertilizers on its own, according to Russian media.
"Russia will be ready to revive the grain deal and will do so as soon as all the agreements are fulfilled," Putin said.
He also said that the suspension of the grain deal did not affect the market much, and "Ukraine's share in world exports has remained at 5%."
Putin once again complained about Western countries: "To put it mildly, we were deceived about the Black Sea initiative."
The Russian president also said: "Russia does not refuse Turkey's mediation services to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. But earlier, Kyiv itself sent the draft agreements reached during the negotiations to the trash. And their new initiatives are not discussed with us."
Erdogan follows Putin's lead. The Turkish president noted that they had widely discussed the grain deal.
The Turkish leader believes that a new package of proposals could help to restore it.
He also said that the alternative grain supply options to the grain deal did not meet security standards.
Erdogan noted that Ankara is ready to undertake mediation in Ukraine.
The Turkish president said that Ukraine needs to "soften its approach" to resume the grain deal.
"To be able to take joint steps with Russia, Ukraine needs to soften its approach. Especially now, the grain that will be sent to the least developed and poorest African countries is important," Erdogan said.
