Erdogan had planned a meeting with the Russian president at the G20 summit in Bali, but it was announced that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would travel instead at the head of the Russian delegation, the Milliyet newspaper reported.

“For the next few days, if I manage to communicate with Putin, I will have the opportunity to know his position and possible steps,” Erdogan told the newspaper, referring to the discussion of issues on global agenda.

He also considered that the agreement reached in Istanbul last July between Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and the United Nations Organization (UN) for the departure of cargo ships, carrying grain from Ukrainian ports via a secure corridor, should in no way have a limitation in time.

The agreement also referred to the possibility that the UN should negotiate with Western powers the suspension of the embargo imposed on Russia for the export of its cereals and fertilizers, after European countries detained Russian ships carrying said cargo onboard in their ports.

Erdogan reassured that the agreement must have specific parameters to really favor African countries, as Putin recently requested.

During a late speech at the United Nations, the Russian president confirmed that barely 10 percent of the grain leaving Ukrainian ports goes to states in real need, while the majority goes to Europe, as a result of that,the risk of a humanitarian crisis pends over Africa and Asia.

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