Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed this Friday fully comply with the Ukrainian and Russian grain export agreementand also for Ankara to pay in rubles for Russian gas supplies, which Western countries oppose.
Both sides advocate “full compliance” with the Istanbul agreements so that Russia can export “without obstacles” its grain and fertilizerindicates the joint statement issued after the negotiations between both leaders and their delegations.
Putin and Erdogan recognize “the important role of constructive relations between the two countries in signing the initiative on the safe supply of grain from Ukrainian ports.”
At the beginning of their meeting in the Sochi (Black Sea) resort, Putin thanked Erdogan your role in signing the agreementwhich he considered “very important” in the context of the world food crisis.
The freighter Razoni, the first to set sail from Ukrainian territory, carried on Monday 26,500 tons of corn from Odessa to Lebanon crossing the Bosphorus Strait.
According to the Turkish authorities, three other ships were due to leave on Friday from the Ukrainian ports of Odessa, Chornomosk and Pvidenny.
In turn, the Russian deputy prime minister, Alexandr Novak, revealed that the Russian and Turkish leaders had agreed that Ankara begins to “partially” pay for gas in Russian currency.
“We are gradually moving to payment in the national currency. Part of the supplies will be paid in rubles. This is indeed a new stage that opens up new possibilities,” he explained.
remembered that Russia annually supplies 26 billion cubic meters of gas to Turkey.
Putin commented today that “European partners should be grateful to Turkey because it guarantees the smooth transit of our gas to the European market.”
“The Turkish Stream, unlike all other routes of our hydrocarbon supplies, works correctly, dynamically, without failures (…), it has become one of the main arteries for the supply of Russian gas to Europe,” he stressed.
In their joint statement, Moscow and Ankara defended the territorial integrity of Syria, while being willing to coordinate their efforts in the fight against terrorist organizations.
According to the Kremlin, the leaders intended to discuss the situation in Syria this Friday, for which Hakan Fidan, the head of the Turkish intelligence service, also traveled to Sochi.
Erdogan wants get Putin’s go-ahead for a new Turkish military operation in northern Syria against the Kurdish militias, the Popular Protection Units (YPG), which he has been announcing for weeks.