Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Moscow would consider renewing a deal allowing grain exports from Ukrainian ports, but only after securing “real guarantees” from Kyiv. The phone call between the two leaders on Tuesday came after Russia suspended its participation in the deal over what it said was a drone attack on Moscow’s fleet in Crimea, which Ukraine blamed. Kyiv has not claimed responsibility and has denied using the safe shipping lane for military purposes. Putin told Erdogan that Russia sought “real guarantees from Kyiv on strict adherence to the Istanbul agreement, in particular on not using the humanitarian corridor for military purposes,” according to a Kremlin statement. The Russia-Ukraine grain export deal was signed by Turkey and the United Nations in July to ease a global food crisis caused in part by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, a major grain producer, and earlier blockade of its ports. Ends November 19th. The Kremlin said a repeat could only be considered after an investigation into the alleged drone attacks on the Crimean naval port of Sevastopol was completed. Russia wants “a detailed investigation into the circumstances of this incident, as well as after receiving real guarantees from Kyiv on the strict observance of the Istanbul agreements, in particular on the non-use of the humanitarian corridor for military purposes.” “Only after that will it be possible to consider the issue of resuming work” under the deal, the Kremlin statement said, referring to both the investigation and the guarantees it is seeking. It also said that Putin reminded Erdogan of the “failure to fulfill the second part of the package deals – to unblock the export of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to world markets.” While these goods are not subject to Western sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian producers lost access to Baltic Sea ports they had used for exports and to a pipeline carrying ammonia to the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Pivdennyi. known as Yuzhny in Russian. In a readout of Tuesday’s call, the Turkish presidency said Erdogan had told Putin it was “confident that a solution-oriented cooperation will be established on this issue.” Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu discussed the deal with his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar on Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said. Ukraine said Russia’s claim was a “false pretext” to pull out of the deal. On Tuesday, more cargo ships left Ukrainian ports despite Russia’s warning a day earlier that it was “more dangerous, dangerous” to resume exports without Russia’s involvement. However, the Joint Coordination Centre, the body overseeing a deal to export Ukrainian food, said there were no plans for ships loaded with grain to move into the Black Sea on Wednesday. “The UN Secretariat in the Joint Coordination Center reports that the delegations of Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations have agreed not to schedule any ship movements in the Black Sea Initiative for November 2,” it said on Tuesday. “The JCC can best fulfill its mandate with the full and active participation of all four delegations,” the center said in a statement. He said the UN coordinator for the deal, Amir Abdullah, was working closely with Turkish officials “to resume full participation” in the center.
