Turkey's Erdogan Reaches Out to Putin for Ukraine Peace Talks

Turkish President Erdogan is set to have a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday. The main topics will be peace efforts in Ukraine and the Black Sea grain deal. Turkey is in a unique position. It's a NATO member but has good relations with both Ukraine and Russia. This has allowed it to play a role in peace talks. Turkey hosted three rounds of peace talks in Istanbul. It also offered to host a leaders' meeting. Erdogan spoke about this at a press conference. It was after the G20 summit in South Africa. He mentioned the Black Sea grain deal from 2022. This deal was meant to help end the war in Ukraine. But it didn't last. Erdogan plans to ask Putin to restart it. He also wants to discuss how to stop the fighting. Erdogan will share the results of his talk with Putin. He will share them with European and U. S. leaders. Erdogan didn't comment on a U. S. plan to end the war. Kyiv and its allies are worried about it. They think it gives too much to Russia. The grain deal was signed in July 2022. It allowed Ukraine to export 33 million metric tons of grain. Russia left the deal in 2023. It said its own food and fertilizer exports faced problems. It also mentioned issues with payments, logistics, and insurance. Last week, Erdogan met with Ukrainian President Zelenskiy. On Sunday, he talked about the war with French and Italian leaders. He wants all diplomatic efforts to be used. He thinks restarting talks in Istanbul could help.