Ankara to host Putin in August: Erdogan

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said that he is preparing to receive Russian President Vladimir Putin in August.

“We are preparing to host Mr Putin within the month of August,” Erdogan told reporters after Friday prayer in Istanbul. 

“We are on the same page regarding the extension of the Black Sea grain corridor,” he added. 

Last year, Turkey mediated a deal between Russia and Ukraine to create a safe corridor to allow the export of grain from Ukrainian ports. The deal helped to ease a global food crisis after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres this week proposed to Putin an agreement to ensure the continued shipments of Ukrainian grain.

“Mr Guterres sent a letter to Putin. I hope that with this letter, we assure the extension of the grain corridor deal, with the joint efforts of us and Russia,” Erdogan said. 

Russian officials have complained that their demands regarding their grain and fertilizer exports have not been met and have hinted they could block the extension of the Ukrainian grain deal, which expires on Monday. 

Answering journalists’ questions on Thursday, Putin said that Ukraine’s grains were going to “well-fed and prosperous Europe” and not countries threatened with shortages or famine. 

“The point is that initially, the UN and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres presented this deal primarily as assistance for the world’s poorest countries with a view to preventing famine there,” Putin said. “I have said many times that of all the food, primarily grain, exported from the territory of Ukraine, only a little more than 3 percent went to the poorest countries.” 

Turkey, a member of the NATO military alliance, has managed to maintain relations with both Russia and Ukraine. Erdogan, last week, welcomed Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy to Istanbul ahead of a NATO leaders summit where he finally approved the accession of Sweden into the alliance.

With Sweden becoming the 32nd member, NATO is now bordering Russia’s northwest.