Report: Türkiye’s Erdogan Spoke with Japan’s Kishida to Revive Black Sea Grain Deal

08 September 2023, India, New Delhi: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) meets with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, ahead of the G20 Summit in New Delhi. (dpa)
08 September 2023, India, New Delhi: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) meets with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, ahead of the G20 Summit in New Delhi. (dpa)
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Report: Türkiye’s Erdogan Spoke with Japan’s Kishida to Revive Black Sea Grain Deal

08 September 2023, India, New Delhi: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) meets with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, ahead of the G20 Summit in New Delhi. (dpa)
08 September 2023, India, New Delhi: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) meets with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, ahead of the G20 Summit in New Delhi. (dpa)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the G20 leaders' summit in New Delhi on reviving the Black Sea grain deal, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Saturday.

Russia quit the deal in July - a year after it was brokered by the United Nations and Türkiye - complaining that its own food and fertilizer exports faced obstacles and that not enough Ukrainian grain was going to countries in need.

The sources who spoke to Reuters on the sidelines of the summit declined to give more details.

Erdogan had said earlier this week, after talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin, that it would soon be possible to revive the grain deal.

He said Ukraine should soften its negotiating position against Russia in talks over reviving the deal and export more grain to Africa rather than Europe.

However, Ukraine on Friday opposed the idea of easing sanctions on Russia in order to revive the deal.

Embassies of Türkiye and Japan in New Delhi did not immediately respond to Reuters' emailed requests for comment.

Japan's foreign minister will meet his Ukrainian counterpart in Kyiv on Saturday, the Japanese foreign ministry said.



Iran's President Says Tehran Has to Deal with Washington

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks to community members, academic figures, tribal sheikhs and officials during his visit, in Basra, Iraq, September 13, 2024. (Reuters)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks to community members, academic figures, tribal sheikhs and officials during his visit, in Basra, Iraq, September 13, 2024. (Reuters)
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Iran's President Says Tehran Has to Deal with Washington

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks to community members, academic figures, tribal sheikhs and officials during his visit, in Basra, Iraq, September 13, 2024. (Reuters)
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian speaks to community members, academic figures, tribal sheikhs and officials during his visit, in Basra, Iraq, September 13, 2024. (Reuters)

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran will not be able to ignore its arch-foe the United States and needs to "handle its enemies with forbearance", state media reported on Tuesday, a week after Donald Trump won the US presidential election.

"Whether we like it or not, we will have to deal with the US in the regional and international arenas, so it is better to manage this relation ourselves," Pezeshkian, who is viewed as relatively moderate, said.

"We have to treat our friends with generosity and handle our enemies with forbearance."

In 2018, then-President Trump ditched Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and re-imposed harsh sanctions as part of his "maximum pressure" policy against Iran.

While there have been no reports that the Trump administration plans to hold talks with Tehran after it takes office in January, the President-elect said during his election campaign "I don't want to do damage to Iran but they cannot have nuclear weapons."

Indirect talks between Washington and Tehran to revive the nuclear deal were initiated under the administration of US President Joe Biden, but failed. Iran is still formally part of the deal but has scaled back commitments to honor it due to US sanctions re-imposed on Iran.

Earlier on Tuesday, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said Iran will pursue whatever secures its interest, when asked if there could be direct talks with the Trump administration.

She cautioned that the final decision for talks rests with the top political figure Ali Khamenei and the Supreme National Security Council.

"The maximum pressure campaign of Trump has failed, even if people have been burdened by it. What is important will be actions and not words, but we recommend Trump to take into account the failure of his past policies," Mohajerani added.