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Türkiye’s Erdogan to Visit Russia ‘Soon’ to Discuss Grain Deal

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gestures as he speaks as he attends the Justice and Development (AK) Party's 22nd Foundation Anniversary Event at ATO Congresium, in Ankara, on August 24, 2023. (AFP)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gestures as he speaks as he attends the Justice and Development (AK) Party's 22nd Foundation Anniversary Event at ATO Congresium, in Ankara, on August 24, 2023. (AFP)
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Türkiye’s Erdogan to Visit Russia ‘Soon’ to Discuss Grain Deal

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gestures as he speaks as he attends the Justice and Development (AK) Party's 22nd Foundation Anniversary Event at ATO Congresium, in Ankara, on August 24, 2023. (AFP)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gestures as he speaks as he attends the Justice and Development (AK) Party's 22nd Foundation Anniversary Event at ATO Congresium, in Ankara, on August 24, 2023. (AFP)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Russia soon to discuss the collapsed United Nations deal that had allowed Black Sea exports of Ukrainian grain, a spokesperson for Türkiye’s ruling AK Party said on Monday.

The UN- and Türkiye-brokered deal lasted a year but ended last month after Moscow quit. Ankara is seeking to persuade Russia to return to the agreement, under which Odesa's seaports shipped tens of millions of tons of grain.

Since the grain-export deal collapsed, Russian forces have targeted Ukrainian ports with volleys of missiles and kamikaze drones.

Omer Celik, the AK Party spokesperson, said Erdogan would visit Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi "soon" but did not specify whether he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"After this visit there may be developments and new stages may be reached regarding" the grain deal, he told reporters.

The Kremlin said on Friday there was an understanding the two leaders will meet in person soon.

Bloomberg cited two anonymous sources in reporting that Erdogan is expected to meet Putin in Russia next week, possibly on Sept. 8, before he travels to a G20 meeting in India.  

Earlier, the TASS news agency cited Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan will hold talks in Moscow "in the nearest future".

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Israeli Spy Chief Hands Court Scathing Rebuke of Netanyahu Bid to Sack Him

Israeli Security Agency director Ronen Bar attends a memorial ceremony of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year -. GIL COHEN-MAGEN/Pool via REUTERS/File
Israeli Security Agency director Ronen Bar attends a memorial ceremony of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year -. GIL COHEN-MAGEN/Pool via REUTERS/File
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Israeli Spy Chief Hands Court Scathing Rebuke of Netanyahu Bid to Sack Him

Israeli Security Agency director Ronen Bar attends a memorial ceremony of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year -. GIL COHEN-MAGEN/Pool via REUTERS/File
Israeli Security Agency director Ronen Bar attends a memorial ceremony of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year -. GIL COHEN-MAGEN/Pool via REUTERS/File

The head of Israel's domestic intelligence service said on Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bid to sack him followed his refusal to fulfil requests that included spying on Israeli protesters and disrupting the leader's corruption trial.

In an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, the head of Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, said that Netanyahu's March move to dismiss him was not based on professional grounds but was prompted by unmet expectations of personal loyalty to the prime minister.

In response, Netanyahu's office said it would soon deliver a detailed refute of Bar's affidavit, which it called "false". Netanyahu's move to sack Bar fuelled protests in Israel and was suspended by the Supreme Court, after political watchdogs and opposition lawmakers argued the dismissal was unlawful. Critics say that the government is undermining key state institutions and endangering the foundations of Israeli democracy. Netanyahu's Likud party has accused Bar of acting against the prime minister and turning parts of the Shin Bet service into "a private militia of the Deep State." Israel's government has backed Netanyahu, who said that he had lost confidence in Bar over the agency's failure to prevent the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, a security failure that had led to the country's deadliest day, Reuters reported.

But in the unclassified part of his affidavit, Bar argued that the quest to oust him began more than a year after the attack. He cited a series of events between November 2024 and February 2025, which he said appeared to prompt the prime minister's moves against him.

Bar also said he refused to sign off on a security request aimed at preventing continuous testimony by Netanyahu at his corruption trial. Netanyahu, who denies any wrongdoing, began testifying in his long-running court case in December.