06 July 2023; MEMO: Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will visit Turkiye on Friday for talks with President Tayyip Erdogan on the Black Sea grain deal and developments in the war in Ukraine, the state-run Anadolu Agency said on Thursday.
Turkiye and the United Nations brokered last year's deal, which allows for the export of grain and other agricultural products from Ukraine's Black Sea ports despite the ongoing war, Reuters reports.
But Russia, angry about aspects of its implementation, has threatened not to allow it further renewal beyond 17 July.
Zelenskiy and Erdogan will hold face-to-face talks and also attend inter-delegational meetings, Anadolu said.
Erdogan, re-elected last month for another five-year term, has sought to maintain strong ties with both Kyiv and Moscow since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, 2022.
Turkiye, a NATO member, has not joined its Western allies in imposing economic sanctions on Russia, but has also supplied arms to Ukraine and called for its sovereignty to be respected.
