The two leaders met in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on Monday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Afterwards Erdoğan said: "As Turkey, we believe that we will reach a solution that will meet the expectations in a short time.“
The Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the UN and Turkey in the summer of 2022, helped alleviate a global food crisis, according to UN officials.
Russia quit the agreement in July, saying its own exports of food and fertiliser faced serious obstacles, the Reuters news agency reported.
Moscow has since carried out a series of strikes on Ukraine’s ports on the Black Sea and the Danube river, which has now become the main route out for Ukrainian grain exports, according to news outlets.
Turkey and the UN are seeking to persuade Putin to return to the grain deal, Reuters reported.
Erdoğan said on Monday that Ukraine should soften its negotiating stance in talks over the resumption of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the PAP news agency reported.
"Ukraine needs to especially soften its approaches in order for it to be possible for joint steps to be taken with Russia," the Turkish president stated.
Meanwhile, Putin reiterated that Russia could return to the agreement provided that the West stopped restricting Russian agricultural exports from reaching global markets, Reuters reported.
He said: "We will be ready to consider the possibility of reviving the grain deal and I told Mr President about this again today - we will do this as soon as all the agreements on lifting restrictions on the export of Russian agricultural products are fully implemented.“
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he expected Erdoğan to hold talks on the resumption of the Black Sea Grain Initiative with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the PAP news agency reported.
Tuesday is day 559 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, Reuters
