Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday refused to sign a new agreement to ship grain across the Black Sea unless the West complies with Moscow’s demands.
The Russian leader spoke after talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the southern Russian seaside resort of Sochi.
Along with the UN, Erdogan was one of the brokers of the original agreement, known as the Black Sea Initiative, signed in the summer of 2022 in Istanbul, which allowed Ukraine to safely export its grain products.
Moscow unilaterally withdrew from the protocol in July.
According to the Ankara press, the Turkish head of state hoped at the Sochi meeting to “persuade” the Russian president to renew the agreements.
At the opening of the first meeting of the two heads of state since last October, Erdogan promised to make a “very important” statement on grain exports at the end.
In comments after the meeting with Erdogan, Putin said that Russia was finalizing an agreement on free grain supplies to six African countries.