Putin and Erdoğan fail to reach agreement on resuming Black Sea grain deal

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a press conference in Sochi Monday after meeting to discuss the resumption of the Black Sea grain deal, which Russia pulled out of in July. The leaders' statements made it clear that they were unable to reach an agreement.

Putin said Russia will be willing to return to the deal if Western countries remove their restrictions on Russian agricultural exports.

The Russian president also announced that Russia will ship one million metric tons of grain to Turkey to be processed and delivered for free to African countries, but noted that this initiative is not an alternative to the grain deal.