The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the main Russian condition for extending the grain deal is that the West lift sanctions that prevent Russia from exporting grain and fertilizers. The 2022 grain agreement between Russia and Ukraine, which was negotiated between Turkey and the United Nations, expires on July 17. The United Nations called on all parties to extend the agreement to ensure global food security.
Lavrov and Fidan also discussed Turkey’s recent transfer of some Ukrainian commanders from the Azov Regiment, which last year defended a steel plant in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol from Russian offensive forces. This transfer caused outrage in Moscow, but according to Lavrov, it will not lead to less cooperation between Russia and Turkey.
The Azov commanders had been released in a prisoner exchange in September on the condition that they remain in Turkey until the end of the war. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky brought them home on Saturday after a visit to Turkey, on the condition that they never again join the fight.
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