Turkish Foreign Minister in Moscow for talks on Black Sea grain deal

Russia's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday announced that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will host his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan for a two-day visit beginning Thursday, August 31. Hakan Fidan "will pay a working visit to Moscow to take part in talks on a broad range of bilateral and international issues at the invitation of his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov," Russian MFA said. "This is his first visit to the Russian Federation in the Foreign Minister status," it added.

According to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, Lavrov and Fidan will discuss the Black Sea grain deal as the top agenda of the meeting and other key issues related to the Ukraine war. The two counterparts will exchange views on the crisis in Ukraine, as well as possible ways of settling it politically and diplomatically. Lavrov and Fidan will "talk about humanitarian issues, including the exchange of POWs, and the need for both sides to observe relevant agreements. Russia said that it plans to discuss the "detrimental effects" of Ankara's bilateral cooperation with Ukraine and the buildup of military-technical cooperation between Ankara and Kyiv.

"On August 31 and September 1, Foreign Minister of [Turkey] Hakan Fidan will visit Moscow to hold talks with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on a broad range of bilateral and international issues," Zakharova said at a state press briefing.

FM talks to lay groundwork for Putin-Erdogan's upcoming meeting

Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Fidan will "discuss the situation in the region, including Ukraine, Syria, Libya and the South Caucasus." She added that the two ministers will also "analyse the status of bilateral cooperation, including energy projects and review a schedule for bilateral meetings at the top and high levels."

Fidan, while in Moscow, will also hold a dialogue with a number of senior officials to discuss bilateral, regional and global developments during his two-day visit. The meeting between Lavrov and Fidan will lay the groundwork for the upcoming visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Moscow where he will hold an 'in-person' meeting with Russia's leader Vladimir Putin in Sochi. 

"They [Lavrov and Fidan] will discuss the situation that took shape after the discontinuation of the Black Sea Initiative on grain exports from Ukrainian ports on July 18. We will again explain to Turkish representatives the Russian position expressed by the Russian Defence Ministry in its July 19 statement," said Russia's Foreign Ministry in a statement on Telegram. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a conference. Credit: AP

Russian grain, at discounted price, to be sent to Turkish companies

During their meeting, the foreign ministers of Russia and Turkey will discuss the parameters of implementing Russia's President Vladimir Putin’s initiative to organise supplies of one million tonnes of discounted Russian grain to Turkey with Qatar’s financial support. "This grain will be sent to Turkish companies for processing and subsequent delivery to the neediest countries," the Russian MFA stated. 

Last week, Ankara, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member, stated that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin to discuss the now-suspended Black Sea Grain Initiative. Ankara's top diplomat Fidan, who is on his way to Moscow held talks with Ukrainian officials last week. Turkey is forging efforts to revive the now-suspended Black Sea Grain Initiative that it helped broker between Russia and Ukraine in July last year with the help of the United Nations.

Moscow unilaterally pulled out of the Turkish-brokered deal that guaranteed the safe passage to the Ukrainian vessels loaded with grain via the Black Sea ports amid the ongoing war. Earlier this week, Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party spokesperson Omer Celik reportedly said that he hoped that the two leaders’ meeting would lead to a new phase in the revival of the deal. Russia’s defence ministry, last month, had threatened that any ship leaving a Ukrainian port would be a legitimate military target for its forces after suspending the deal.