Refuting claims of Russia stopping movement of foodgrain for export, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that he has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi as well as spoken to the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at the G20 summit to further increase movement of foodgrain through the Black Sea for the sake of poor countries.
He noted that till date Russia had exported 3 million tonnes of grain, of which 43 percent was bought by the west, 40 percent came to Turkiye, while the rest was transported to Africa.
Stating that any global initiative excluding Russia is bound to fail, he highlighted that Turkiye had helped realise the Black Sea grain corridor as well as negotiate exchange of prisoners of war between Russia and Ukraine.
Speaking to journalists after the G20 Leaders' summit in New Delhi, he said that he hasn't lost hope yet on reimplementing the grain deal and will continue to take relevant steps to fight hunger in African countries.
Terming the Delhi declaration as worth being proud of, he expressed hope of increasing bilateral trade with India, which is already Turkiye's largest trading partner in South Asia.
Batting for more members in the UN Security Council, he suggested that UNSC can work on a rotational mechanism where each of 195 countries gets a chance to become a member of the Security Council.
