Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski has thanked his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his cooperation and efforts to restore the agreement on grain exports from Ukrainian ports that Russia broke last weekend in retaliation for an attack on its fleet in the Black Sea.
The two leaders held a telephone conversation on Wednesday in which Zelenski highlighted Erdogan’s «active participation» in the restoration of the agreement, as well as «his firm support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity».
«We discussed additional steps to bring back prisoners of war and political prisoners. Turkish support in this matter is important for us,» Zelenski said in a post on his Telegram channel.
For his part, Erdogan has expressed satisfaction that he has achieved the restoration of the agreement with Russia, as he considers Ukrainian wheat and Russian fertilizers to be vitally important supplies for the whole world, especially the most disadvantaged regions, Anatolia agency reports.
The Russian government announced on Wednesday its return to the agreement signed with Ukraine to guarantee the export of grain after considering «sufficient» the guarantees received from the UN and Turkey, so that the Ukrainian forces do not use this agreement to carry out military operations.