Erdogan might visit Russia to discuss grain deal - Turkish media

ISTANBUL. Aug 22 (Interfax) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan might visit Russia to discuss the renewal of the Black Sea Grain Initiative with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkey's NTV television channel reported on Tuesday citing sources in the presidential office.

"President Erdogan's upcoming visit to Russia will be of decisive significance for the deal," NTV said, without specifying possible dates for the trip.

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, or the grain deal, was signed in Istanbul on July 22, 2022. The United Nations, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine signed two documents to open a grain corridor from three Ukrainian ports (Chernomorsk, Odessa and Yuzhny) and to lift restrictions on Russian food and fertilizer exports.

The initiative was extended in November 2022 for 120 days until March, and then twice more by two months. Moscow refused to extend the deal again and forwarded its objections to Ankara, Kiev, and the UN on July 17.