“I have good news,” announced President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Türkiye yesterday, a day before the expiration of the Black Sea grain and fertilizer agreement. He reported that Russia had agreed to continue participating in the arrangement for yet another two months, to give time for others to secure Western compliance. Erdogan thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin and promised that Turkey would do everything it can to see the deal fully implemented. Russia’s Foreign Ministry confirmed Erdogan’s announcement shortly thereafter.
Last week Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin had left the discussions in Istanbul without Russia’s longs-tanding concerns having been solved. The core issues revolve around the West’s bad faith, preventing Russia’s food and fertilizers from being exported: the sanctioning of Russian ships, the blocking of access to insurance brokerage services; the financial sanctions against Russia’s fertilizer producers, the disconnection of Russia’s Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) from the SWIFT payment system, and Ukraine’s closure of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline.
