Ukraine war: Russia’s Putin meets Turkey’s Erdogan says no new Black Sea grain deal until West meets his demands

But Russia refused to extend the deal in July, complaining that an agreement promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertiliser hadn’t been honoured. It said restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered its agricultural trade even though it has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year.

Putin said that if those commitments were honoured, Russia could return to the deal “within the nearest days.”

He also said that Russia is close to finalising an agreement to provide free grain to six African countries. The Russian leader added that Russia will ship 1 million metric tons (1.1 million tons) of cheap grain to Turkey for processing and delivery to poor countries.

Since Putin withdrew from the grain initiative, Erdogan has repeatedly pledged to renew arrangements that helped avoid a food crisis in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Erdogan said after Monday’s talks that Ankara was against alternative proposals to last year’s Ukraine grain agreement.

“The alternative proposals brought to the agenda could not offer a sustainable, secure and permanent model based on cooperation between the parties like the Black Sea Initiative,” Erdogan said at a joint media appearance with Putin in Sochi.

“We have prepared a new proposal package in consultation with the UN. I believe that it is possible to get results. I believe that a solution that will meet Turkey’s expectations will be reached soon,” Erdogan said.

A lot is riding on the talks for the world food supply, and beforehand analysts predicted Putin would drive a hard bargain.

“My gut feeling is that Putin recognises the leverage he has by using food as an economic weapon, and thus will fight for all he can get in terms of concessions on his wish list,” said Tim Benton, a food security expert at the Chatham House think tank.

Those may include Russia’s grains, or fertiliser exports, or wider issues, he said.

Ukraine counteroffensive

The meeting took place against a backdrop of Ukraine’s recent counteroffensive against the Kremlin’s invasion forces.

Putin on Monday claimed that Kyiv’s counteroffensive to retake Ukrainian land lost to Moscow was a “failure”.

“As for the stalling counteroffensive, it is not that it is stalling. It is a failure,” Putin said after his meeting with Erdogan. “At least today this is what it looks like. Let’s see what happens next. I hope that it will continue to be so.”

Opening the talks, Putin mentioned various areas of bilateral cooperation, such as a proposed Russian gas hub in Turkey and the construction of the first nuclear power plant there, in which Moscow is actively involved.

The Sochi summit follows talks between the Russian and Turkish foreign ministers on Thursday, during which Russia handed over a list of actions that the West would have to take in order for Ukraine’s Black Sea exports to resume.

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Erdogan has indicated sympathy with Putin’s position. In July, he said Putin had “certain expectations from Western countries” over the Black Sea deal and that it was “crucial for these countries to take action in this regard.”

Describing Turkey’s “intense” efforts to revive the agreement, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said it was a “process that tries to better understand Russia’s position and requests, and to meet them.”

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse