Turkish President Erdogan Claims Putin Agreed To Extend Black Sea Grain Deal, Kremlin Denies: Report

<p><strong>New Delhi:</strong> Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin has agreed to extend the Black Sea grain deal, which enables the export of Ukrainian grains to ease a global food crisis, news agency AFP reported. "We are preparing to welcome Putin in August and we agree on the extension of the Black Sea grain corridor," AFP quoted Erdogan as saying. The Black Sea grain deal, signed five months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, is about to expire on Monday.</p> <p>According to the report, Putin has been threatening not to renew it citing obstacles to Russia's own exports.</p> <p>However, the Kremlin did not confirm Erdogan&rsquo;s claim. "There is no statement about this from the Russian side," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told AFP.</p> <p>The Guardian, too, quoted the Interfax news agency as saying that Russia has not made any statements on the extension of the Black Sea grain deal.</p> <p>Earlier speaking in Jakarta, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had called on Putin to extend the Black Sea grain deal, warning that a failure to do so might hurt the most vulnerable countries.</p> <p>"Developing countries including in the region will pay the price including quite literally with higher food prices, as well as greater food scarcity," Blinken told reporters after Southeast Asian talks, according to AFP.</p> <p>UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, too, wrote to Putin earlier this week on extending the deal. He said that he supported removing hurdles to Russia exporting its fertilisers, another element Moscow has complained is not being respected, AFP reported.</p> <p>AFP quoted Erdogan as saying that he hoped "that with this letter we will ensure the extension of the grain corridor with our joint efforts and those of Russia."</p> <p>It is to be noted that Putin on Thursday had warned that "not one" of Moscow's conditions for the deal to operate had been met, according to AFP. "I want to emphasise that nothing was done, nothing at all. It's all one-sided," Putin said in a televised interview, adding, "We will think about what to do, we have a few more days."</p>

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