President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and President Vladimir Putin of Russia held a joint press conference following their meeting in Sochi. “(Black Sea Grain Initiative) We believe that the initiative should be continued by correcting the shortcomings,” President Erdoğan said. President Erdoğan thanked President Putin for his kind invitation and hospitality and expressed his gratitude for their support and solidarity during the February 6 earthquakes and the forest fires in recent months. Recalling that he had last met with Russian President Putin on the occasion of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia held in Astana last year, President Erdoğan said that since then, he and President Putin have always been in dialogue through close telephone diplomacy. “OUR BILATERAL TRADE VOLUME REACHED APPROXIMATELY $69 BILLION” Stating that they discussed the issues on the agenda in meeting today, President Erdoğan said that they evaluated the steps that can be taken to further strengthen multidimensional cooperation, especially in trade, agriculture, tourism, economy and finance. “Our bilateral trade volume reached approximately $69 billion last year. We are taking firm steps towards our target of $100 billion. We are having a very successful season in tourism this year. In 2022, we hosted 5 million 230 thousand Russian citizens in our country. In the first 7 months of this year, 3.5 million Russian tourists came to our country. I believe that this number will increase even more in the remaining period,” President Erdoğan said. “THE BLACK SEA INITIATIVE PLAYED A KEY ROLE IN ADDRESSING THE GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS” Stating that one of the issues they particularly emphasized was the revitalization of the Black Sea grain corridor initiative and that they were pleased with Russia's decision to open an office in the TRNC, President Erdoğan said: “The Black Sea initiative played a key role in addressing the global food crisis. It has been a breathing tube, especially for those who need grain the most, such as Africa. The proposed alternatives have failed to offer a sustainable, secure and lasting model based on cooperation between the parties like the Black Sea initiative. Russia's expectations for the resumption of the initiative are known to all parties. We have expressed the points raised by our Russian friends on different occasions. We believe that the initiative should be continued by correcting the shortcomings. I sincerely shared our views on this issue with my dear friend in our bilateral meeting. “WE ARE DETERMINED TO CONTINUE OUR EFFORTS TO ESTABLISH LASTING PEACE, STABILITY AND PROSPERITY IN OUR REGION” Noting that Türkiye prepared a package of new proposals that include significant progress, President Erdoğan said: “I believe that it is possible to achieve results through this new process. As Türkiye, I believe that we will hopefully reach a solution that will meet expectations in a short time. We are determined to continue our efforts to establish lasting peace, stability and prosperity in our region. We want the ongoing conflicts to end as soon as possible with a lasting and fair peace on the basis of international law. I emphasize in every speech that war has no winners and peace has no losers. We maintain this principled approach. We have previously hosted direct negotiations between the parties. We are ready to do our part in this regard again as we always have.” Stating that they also discussed other regional and global issues with Russian President Putin, President Erdoğan said: “In this context, we discussed the latest developments in Syria, the South Caucasus, Libya and Africa. Until today, we have developed our bilateral relations on the basis of the principles of good neighborliness, friendship and sincerity in a way to serve the interests of our countries and the region. We have seen and continue to see the benefits of Turkish-Russian relations built on this foundation in a wide range of fields. Our close contact with Russia will continue to contribute to the solution of regional and global issues. In particular, the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant is underway with full intensity. As a second step, we discussed the Sinop Nuclear Power Plant with my esteemed friend today, and with a step to be taken in this field, Türkiye will rise to the next level.” President Erdoğan concluded his remarks by once again thanking Russian President Putin for the kindness shown to him and his delegation and wished the visit to be beneficial for both countries and the region. “I HOPE THAT MR. PUTIN WILL QUICKLY FULFILL THESE DEMANDS FROM AFRICAN COUNTRIES” Following their remarks, President Erdoğan and President Putin answered reporters’ questions. In answer to a question on the Black Sea grain corridor, President Erdoğan said: “Ukraine, of course, needs to soften its approach in order to take joint steps with Russia. Especially at the moment, the grain that will be sent to the least developed, poor African countries through the Black Sea Grain Corridor is important. However, if 44 percent of the grain that will come out of this corridor goes to European countries, Russia, rightly, does not look favorably on this.” Stating that Russia wants to send the grain to poor countries, President Erdoğan said: “In our meeting today, Mr. Putin said, 'We are ready to send this 1 million tons of grain to poor countries, we have done all the logistical works for this, we are ready to take this step with these logistical works. And we said to them, We as Türkiye stand ready to do our part and we can grind these grains that will come from you in our mills and send them to poor African countries in the form of flour' and we agreed on these issues. I hope that Mr. Putin will quickly fulfill these demands from African countries, and he specifically mentions six countries. I hope that we will be in a position to take these steps jointly.” In response to a question about what was discussed about the shipment of grain with Qatar's support, President Erdoğan said: “Qatar says that they can participate as the Russia-Türkiye-Qatar trio in terms of providing financial support, especially in terms of sending grain to these poor, least developed African countries, especially in the form of flour. By taking such a step, I hope that we will stand by the least developed African countries."