WSJ: Putin ignores Erdoğanʼs plea to negotiate “grain deal”

Author:
Anhelina Sheremet
Date:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ignored Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğanʼs request to negotiate a return to the "grain agreement".

This was reported by the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal with reference to diplomats.

Erdoğan has repeatedly said in recent weeks that he plans to speak with Putin to revive the deal, but no phone conversation has yet taken place, diplomats noted. According to them, Turkish officials continue to press the issue through various channels in the Kremlin.

According to analysts and diplomats, Russia abandoned the "grain agreement" after Erdoğan took a series of steps that show his foreign policy is "turning away from Russia and looking towards the West." So, for example, Erdoğan angered Russia when he gave commanders from "Azovstal" to Ukraine and did not mind approving Swedenʼs accession to NATO.