Balkans | Blinken urged Türkiye to “retake the leadership role” in the grain deal

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said they expect Turkey to “take a leadership role again” with regard to the Black Sea grain corridor agreement.

Blinken made assessments about Turkey’s role in the Black Sea Grain Initiative and the recent situation in the Russo-Ukraine War at the ongoing Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.

In response to a question, Blinken said, “Turkey played an instrumental role in reviving the initiative from scratch by working closely with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in the first place. He did a great job of getting that off the ground,” he said.

“So, we expect Turkey to play a leadership role in getting this back on track so that people around the world can get the food they need at affordable prices, as they did before,” Blinken said. Use the phrase.

Referring to Turkey’s struggle to maintain this initiative during periods when Russia reneged on the grain initiative, the US Secretary of State also mentioned that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring Russia back to the grain agreement.

“I don’t see any evidence that Russia is interested in peace.”

Blinken has stated that Russia continues to bomb the Ukrainian port of Odessa and has expressed the opinion that the Kremlin is ready to continue the war.

If we see any evidence that Russia is interested in participating in meaningful peace talks, we will be the first to jump in. Unfortunately, I don’t see any evidence that Russia is interested (in peace), and that’s the main problem,” he said.

Blinken said that Putin “still believes that he can keep fighting longer than Ukraine and that Ukraine can outlast all of its supporters,” stating that it was “vital” to dissuade Russia from this idea.

Referring to the tension between Putin and Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Russian private security company Wagner, the foreign minister said, “If I were Mr. Prigozhin, I would be very worried. NATO has an open-doors policy, and Russia has an open-windows policy.” He said.

AA