Everything back on track after Russia's return to grain deal: Turkish official

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Thanks to Ankara's intense diplomatic efforts, Russia returned to the Black Sea grain deal, said Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin.

"For the past three, four days, we made a lot of diplomatic efforts, our defense minister (Hulusi Akar), foreign minister (Mevlut Cavusoglu) and eventually our president (Recep Tayyip Erdogan) spoke to (Russian) President (Vladimir) Putin yesterday," Kalin told CNN international on Wednesday.

Kalin's remarks came after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's announcement of Russia's return to the Black Sea grain export deal, which was signed on July 22 between Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine.

On Saturday Russia had announced that it would suspend its participation in the deal due to Ukrainian attacks before making the decision to return to the deal on Wednesday.

"To give them credit, actually both sides took a very constructive approach after seeing that suspending this agreement will be in everybody's loss and it will cost dearly. As a result, they came back to agreement after the call with President Putin and President Erdogan and now we have everything back on track," Kalin said.

Türkiye hopes that both sides will stick to the deal and they will carry this sprit to an extension of the agreement, which will come up in two weeks, because it is in everybody's interest, said Kalin.

"In fact, we have been saying from the very beginning that as part of the agreement, no military activity should be carried out in and around the humanitarian corridor for grain exports. We hope that this will be the case. That is what Russians demanded and that is what they got. The Ukrainian side again has been very constructive," Kalin said, adding that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed their commitment to the deal.

- Getting grain to less-developed countries

The parties are currently negotiating a possible extension and expansion beyond its Nov. 19 expiration, with Erdogan saying Ankara is determined to get Russian grain and fertilizers to less-developed countries.

Kalin said Putin has been making a political point about the amount of grain going to poorer or underdeveloped countries, saying: "If the idea was to get the grain exports, fertilizers, and other grain products to those in need in Africa and other places, why are the European countries getting more than almost half of the Ukrainian grain?"

He added that it is Ukrainian grain and the country can sell whoever they want to, but said international grain markets should be also considered since logistics and insurance companies are shying away from business with Russia.

To protect the deal, Kalin said "as the international community, we have to do something" for Russian grain to also be exported to international markets while giving some assurances to the companies.

"Our president has been speaking to President Putin and President Zelenskyy on a regular basis and advising both sides to deescalate to the extend as possible," Kalin said.

He added that there has not been any military breakthrough, saying: "It does not look like either side is able to have a decisive victory on the battlefield."

Kalin also stressed that without diplomatic talks, there will be more loss of life and destruction due to the war.