Ukraine's FM against becoming "hostage" to Russian demands, as Erdogan seems to back Putin

Ukraine will insist on maintaining sanctions against Russia with regard to the grain deal, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba said on the national telethon.

During negotiations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi on September 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that in order to restore the grain agreement, Moscow is waiting for the lifting of some of the sanctions on the supply of Russian grain and fertilizers to European markets.

Erdogan stated he considers the Russian demands "just".

According to Kuleba, Kyiv had contacts with Ankara on the eve of the talks between Erdogan and Putin.

"We should not be held hostage by Russia's blackmail, when it itself creates problems and then offers to solve them. We will maintain the position of maintaining sanctions against Russia," Ukraine's top diplomat emphasized.

He noted that there are no sanctions against the export of Russian agricultural products anyway, and the Kremlin's statements in this regard are manipulations.

After the withdrawal of the Russian Federation from the grain agreement in mid-July 2023, the Russian army has been destroying ports and grain warehouses in Odesa Oblast with missiles and drones.

After Ukraine began to export more grain through the Danube ports to Romania, Izmail and Reni also became frequent targets for the aggressor.

On September 2, the foreign ministers of Turkey and Russia said that the UN and Ankara are preparing some new "proposals" (where the occupiers want to include the lifting of sanctions on one of the banks and companies producing fertilizers of the Russian Federation) to restore the agreement on the export of grain from Ukraine.

According to industry estimates, despite everything, Ukraine will harvest more grain in 2023 than last year.