As it is known, the Tayyip Erdogan is going to meet with Vladimir Putin, with grain exports at the center of their agenda. THE FAZ however, he observes that in the last month and a half “Erdogan had announced several times upcoming meetings with Putin. […] But the Kremlin sometimes announced that no meeting was scheduledused to respond to Turkey’s public overtures with confusing diplomatic wording that simply did not rule out the possibility of an Erdogan-Putin meeting.”

Turkey seeks revival of grain deal, yet Russia remains apathetic. According to the Frankfurt paper, “Moscow is unhappy with Turkey for several reasons. Before the NATO summit in Vilnius in July, Erdogan spoke positively about Ukraine’s possible NATO membership, while at the summit he approved the admission of Sweden in the alliance. The Russian leadership reacted with restraint: is aware of Turkey’s obligations as a member of NATO.

Russia was most disturbed by a symbolically sensitive issue for it: in July Erdogan allowed the commanders of the Ukrainian Azov battalions, who had come to Turkey during a Turkish-brokered prisoner exchange, to return to Ukraine. Moscow believed that the prisoners would remain in Turkey until the end of the Russo-Ukrainian war, which is why it believed that Turkey broke its promise.

[…] For Turkey, unlike the rest of the West, it is vital that the channel of communication with Russia remains open. That is why the Turkish side wants to maintain a balance of good relations with Ukraine and Russia”, concludes FAZ.