Turkey's Erdogan says Putin's proposals on Ukraine grain deal being discussed

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says a few proposals by his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Ukraine's grain deal are being discussed, just a few days before the expiration of the vital agreement.

In remarks on Wednesday, Erdogan said that Putin had suggested a few proposals on the Black Sea grain deal, which was signed in July last year, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, in a bid to allow Ukraine to resume exports from its southern ports, which had been blockaded by Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.

"Our efforts to extend the grain deal continue. We have discussed the extension of the grain deal with [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky. He supports its extension. Also, Putin has voiced some proposals on the issue. We are making efforts to find a solution, taking into account those proposals," Erdogan said, as reported by Turkey's state news agency Anadolu.

The Turkish leader further noted that he would "continue discussing the grain deal both with Putin and Zelensky."

Russia has for long warned to exit the deal, set to expire on July 17, complaining that promises to remove obstacles to its own exports of grain and fertilizer have not been fulfilled. It has said sanctions on its payments, logistics and insurance industries have created barriers.

Last week, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova once again restated Moscow's demand for its state agricultural bank to be reconnected to the global SWIFT payments system to prevent the deal from collapsing.

She also dismissed as "deliberately unworkable" a proposal reportedly put forward by the European Union that would allow Russia's Rosselkhozbank to establish a subsidiary that could connect to SWIFT, stressing that it would take many months to create such a subsidiary and another three months to connect to SWIFT.

Zakharova further dismissed an attempt by the UN to set up an alternative payment channel between Rosselkhozbank and American bank JP Morgan (JPM.N).

"There is no real replacement for SWIFT, and cannot be," she added on July 4, stressing that it was "obvious there are no grounds" to renew the deal beyond July 17.

ME