US hopes for success in Erdogan-Putin talks on restoring Black Sea grain deal

WASHINGTON

The US on Monday expressed hope that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s upcoming talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on reinstating the Black Sea grain deal will yield positive results.

“As you know, President Erdogan said on Friday that he looked to have further discussions with President Putin to urge him to rejoin the Black Sea Grain Initiative. We obviously will be hopeful that there would be some success out of those discussions,” State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters during his press briefing.

Miller said that there is “no perfect solution” that will allow Ukraine to ship the same amount of grain as it did under the Black Sea Grain Initiative unless sea lanes are reopened.

Last week, Russia pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal, saying the Russian part of the agreement was not being implemented.

The agreement, initially signed in July of last year in Istanbul by Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine, was aimed at resuming grain exports from Ukrainian ports which had been halted as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war which began that February.

• Grain deal
• State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller
• Turkiye