President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan highlighted the necessity of extending the Ukraine grain deal in a phone call with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday.
According to a statement released by the Presidential Communications Directorate, Erdoğan and the U.N. chief discussed developments regarding the Russia-Ukraine War and the grain corridor.
The president said he welcomes the resumption of the deal as a result of his busy senior-level diplomatic traffic with Russia and Ukraine.
He continued by saying that it is now necessary to focus on extending the deal, which is set to expire in 20 days.
For his part, Guterres thanked Erdoğan for his contributions and efforts.
Russia had pulled out of the grain deal over the weekend, citing allegations of a Ukrainian drone attack against its Black Sea fleet.
Erdoğan on Wednesday said that after his call with Putin, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar that the deal for a humanitarian grain corridor would “continue in the same way as before” as of noon Wednesday.
Shortly after Erdoğan’s remarks, the Russian Defense Ministry said Russia agreed to continue carrying out its role in the deal after receiving written guarantees from Kyiv that Ukraine would not use the sea corridor for military actions against Moscow.
Meanwhile, Erdoğan also said he expects strong support for the U.N. Security Council Resolution regarding cross-border humanitarian assistance to Syria, which is set to expire on Jan. 10.
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