UK pins hopes on Türkiye to bring Russia back to grain deal

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly hopes that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be able to persuade Russia to return to the Black Sea grain initiative.

“I really hope that the (Turkish) President (Recep Tayyip Erdogan) is able to impress upon the importance of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, helping lift people out of hunger, helping reduce international grain prices,” Yeni Safak newspaper quotes Cleverly as saying in an exclusive interview with Anadolu.

The British minister also accused Russia of using world hunger as leverage and called on the Kremlin to return to the "grain deal."

He said President Erdogan has done an incredibly important job on behalf of many people around the world, playing a part with the United Nations in securing the grain initiative.

Meanwhile, Cleverly accused Russia of using hunger around the world for political leverage.

The grain accord was signed in Istanbul in July last year by Russia, Ukraine, Türkiye, and the UN, creating a safe corridor through the Black Sea for exports from three Ukrainian ports halted since the war began in February 2022. It helped rein in spiralling prices and ease a global food crisis by restoring the flow of wheat, sunflower oil, fertilizer and other products from Ukraine, one of the largest grain exporters in the world.

Moscow this week refused to extend the agreement beyond July 17, saying parts related to its demands have “not been implemented so far,” referring to the removal of obstacles to its own fertilizer exports, including the inclusion of the state-owned Russian Agricultural Bank in the SWIFT international payment system.

“The ball is very much in Russia’s court, and we call upon them to engage with this initiative,” he said.

On the UK’s support to Ukraine, he said the government will keep backing Kyiv until the withdrawal of the last Russian troops.