Turkish, Russian presidents hold closed-door talks in Uzbekistan

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Friday.

The closed-door meeting took place on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit. No further information was released.

However, it is expected that the historic grain export deal signed this July by the UN, Türkiye, Russia, and Ukraine would be discussed during the talks between Erdogan and Putin.

Previously, Erdogan said Türkiye wants grain shipments from Russia to also resume, like Ukraine’s exports under the deal.

Earlier, Putin urged the UN to influence the EU to lift sanctions from Russian fertilizer exports to developing states.

Russia is ready to transfer 300,000 tons of fertilizers to developing countries free of charge once the necessary conditions are created, Putin said.

Erdogan attended the SCO leaders' summit as a special guest, with Türkiye taking part at the presidential level for the first time since Ankara got the dialogue partner status in the organization in 2012.

He addressed the second session of the summit and is holding bilateral meetings with leaders in attendance.

On the sidelines of the summit, Erdogan earlier held closed-door meetings with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Established in 2001, the eight-member organization aims to strengthen friendly, good neighborly relations and mutual trust among its member states.