Erdogan’s request to Putin about Ukrainian grain

According to Fars News Agency, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a telephone conversation on Monday.

In this telephone conversation, Erdoğan emphasized the necessity of moving to reopen a safe route in the Black Sea for the export of Ukrainian grain.

The Russian Kremlin also announced that Putin and Erdogan discussed coordinating the export of grain to world markets and securing transportation in the Black Sea.

The media also reported that Erdogan requested Putin to keep Turkey’s border crossings with Syria open for sending humanitarian aid.

It was on Friday that Russia vetoed the resolution of Western countries in the UN Security Council to send aid to Syria through the borders of Turkey.

Russia believes that sending aid through the borders of Turkey violates the sovereignty of Damascus and any aid delivery and distribution should be done through the central government of Syria.

The so-called Security Council resolution to send aid through the Turkish border crossing to the areas under the control of the opposition and terrorists in northern Syria expires on July 19, and nine votes in favor without a veto are needed to extend it.

Russia believes that this long-term operation violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria. Moscow insists that more aid should be sent from inside Syria under the supervision of the central government of this country.

Considering that it is possible to provide aid to many areas in need of humanitarian aid from inside Syria, Moscow’s proposal is that it considers it sufficient to open only one of the border crossings in the areas under the control of the militias during the next 12 months.

In 2014, when the Syrian war was at its peak, the Security Council passed a resolution authorizing the delivery of humanitarian aid to areas under the control of various armed groups. In addition to Turkish crossings, Jordanian and Iraqi crossings were also part of this aid mechanism, but they were closed in January 2020.

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