President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a telephone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday.

"I thanked the Turkish president for his active participation in preserving the grain deal, for his steadfast support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. We discussed further steps to secure the return of Ukrainian prisoners of war and political prisoners," Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced this on Twitter.

I thanked 🇹🇷 President @RTErdogan for his active participation in preserving the grain deal, for his steadfast support of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. We discussed further steps to return 🇺🇦 POWs and political prisoners. I also count on support of 🇹🇷.

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) November 2, 2022

Following the attack on ships of the Black Sea Fleet in occupied Sevastopol, Russia announced the suspension of its participation in the grain initiative. The UN then said that the agreement would remain in force and its inspectors would continue checking ships.

As European Pravda explains in its article, the grain deal could have worked even without the participation of the Russian side, if it was the will of President Erdoğan.

Putin started hinting the very next day that the Russian Federation was ready to return to the deal, and on Wednesday the Turkish and Russian sides announced that Moscow would be rejoining the initiative.