Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated on Friday that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin share the same opinion on extending "grain deal."

According to Daily Sabah, speaking to reporters, Erdoğan said that the deal will hopefully be renewed from its current July 17 deadline as results of the efforts by the United Nations and Türkiye.

"We are preparing to welcome (Russian President Vladimir – ed.) Putin in August. We are on the same page with him on the issue of extending the Black Sea grain corridor," Erdoğan told reporters in Istanbul.

The European Commission is helping the United Nations and Türkiye try to extend the deal and is open to "explore all solutions," a European Union spokesperson said Thursday.

The UN and Türkiye acted as mediators between Russia and Ukraine in reaching the "grain deal" in July 2022, aimed at alleviating the global food crisis that intensified due to Russia's invasion and the blockade of Ukrainian ports.

According to media reports, the EU was considering concessions to the Russian bank for the sake of the "grain deal," incliding the reconnection of the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the international payment network SWIFT.

Furthermore, according to media reports, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had sent a letter to Putin this week. In the letter, Guterres reportedly proposed that Moscow allow the deal to continue for several months to give the EU time to connect a Rosselkhozbank subsidiary to SWIFT.

On July 13, Putin outlined the conditions for extending the grain deal.