After Meeting Putin, President Erdogan Will Discuss The Grain Agreement With The Secretary General Of The United Nations

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru/The Russian Presidential Press and Information Office)

JAKARTA - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was working with the United Nations to revive the Black Sea seed initiative, planning to discuss with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at a public hearing this month.

Speaking to reporters after talks in Russia with Vladimir Putin, President Erdogan said the latest UN proposal was seeking to respond to several Russian demands, repeating his belief a solution could be found soon.

Russia's demands include the return of its Agricultural Bank to the payment system SWIFT and insure ships involved in the seed initiative, he said as quoted by TRT, Haberturk and other Turkish broadcasters.

"On August 28, UN Secretary-General Guterres, in the letter he sent, proposed an intermediary mechanism that would result from SWIFT transactions, not direct SWIFTs as desired by Russia," President Erdogan said.

"They said that work is also being done on insurance issues," he continued.

President Erdogan said Moscow made these two demands as a "quire" to revive the initiative, with President Putin having told him he would not take steps in this matter until "Europe kept the promises they made to me", according to Turkish media.

Yesterday, President Putin repeated Russia could return to the Black Sea initiative, but only if the West stops limiting Russia's agricultural exports to reach the global market.

President Erdogan will participate in the G20 Summit in India on September 9-10, before attending the UN General Assembly in New York on September 18-26.

"We will hold a meeting with Guterres there to discuss these issues," said President Erdogan.