Türkiyeʼs President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan plans to call Russian President Vladimir Putin soon to discuss the Black Sea grain initiative.

As  Anadolu news agency reports, on 22 March, Erdoğan said he planned to talk with Putin "in the next two or three days" and added that the world appreciated Türkiyeʼs mediating role in this situation. 

He also recalled Putin's proposal for free grain supplies to the world's poorest countries and noted that Türkiye was ready to buy grain to grind it into flour and send it to its final destination in this form. 

Erdoğan also said that Turkey is ready to facilitate the supply of fertilisers produced in Russia to poorer countries.

The Turkish president said Ankara "will not be a party to any war and will always be on the side of peace."

At the last moment before the end of the next term of the "grain agreement" on 18 March, it was still extended. However, Moscow soon announced that it had agreed to an extension of only 60 days, which is half of the standard 120-day period, and threatened to terminate the agreement if its requirements were not met.