The upcoming talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will largely determine the future of the grain deal, and the process will be monitored by the United Nations, a source involved in the negotiation process on the grain deal told Sputnik.
On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin's meeting with Erdogan would take place in the near future. Later, a diplomatic source in Ankara told Sputnik that the meeting between the two leaders would be held in early September, before the G20 summit.
"There are very high hopes for these negotiations, in many ways they will show clarity on the future [of the grain deal], all relevant departments [of Turkey] are working in this direction. The process is coordinated with the UN, they will also follow these negotiations. We very much hope that they will be held constructively and opportunities will be opened for the resumption of the work of our initiative," the source said.
Talks on Trilateral Deal on Grain Initiative is Underway, No Agreements Yet
Substantive agreements on possible perspectives of a trilateral grain deal between Russia, Turkey and Qatar do not exist at the moment but various discussions are ongoing, Peskov said on Monday.
"Various options for interaction with the participation of Qatar — at the moment there are no substantive agreements on this matter. But, of course, various discussions continue in different formats," Peskov told reporters when asked if presidents of Russia and Turkey plan to discuss the grain deal option with Doha’s participation.