The president Tayyip Erdogan stated that the Turkey is in close contact with the United Nations on reviving the Black Sea grain initiative and will discuss the issue with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during the UN General Assembly meeting this month, Turkish media reported.

Speaking to reporters after the talks he had at Russia by Vladimir PutinErdogan reportedly said the latest UN proposal was aimed at satisfying some Russian demands and reiterated that he believed a solution could be found soon.

Russian demands include the return of the Russian Agricultural Bank to the payment system SWIFT and the insurance of ships participating in the grain initiative, Erdogan said, according to TRT, Haberturk and other networks.

“On August 28, UN Secretary-General Guterres, in the letter he sent, proposed an intermediary mechanism that would flow from SWIFT, not SWIFT directly, as the Russians wanted,” Erdogan said. “They said work is also being done on the insurance issue.”

The Turkish president added that Moscow presents these two demands as necessary to revive the initiative and that Putin told him that he will not do anything on this issue until “Europe keeps the promises it made to me,” according to Turkish media. information.

Turkey, a member country of NATO, is seeking to persuade Russia to return to the so-called Black Sea Grains Initiative, brokered by Ankara and the United Nations. Moscow withdrew in July, ending a year of protected exports from Ukrainian ports amid the war.

Yesterday, Monday, Putin reiterated that Russia could return to the initiative, but only if the West stops blocking Russian agricultural exports from reaching world markets.

Erdogan will attend the Group of Twenty (G20) summit on September 9 and 10 in India, before attending the UN General Assembly meeting from September 18 to 26 in New York.

“We will have meetings there with Guterres to discuss these issues,” Erdogan was quoted as saying.