Putin Is Now Much Softer Than Before, Says Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke with reporters aboard his plane after returning from Azerbaijan, as reported by Hürriyet newspaper. A media representative asked the Turkish leader whether he had discussed extending the food deal with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin or Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky.

Erdogan responded that, according to his information, as of October 20, 2022, 363 ships had delivered 8 million tons of grain and other food products to global markets under the food deal. He noted that 62% of the shipments from Ukrainian ports were directed to Europe, 19.5% to Asia, 13% to Africa, and 5.3% to Middle Eastern countries.

At the same time, according to the Turkish president, 454,626 tons of wheat were sent to the least developed countries, accounting for only 5.7 percent of the total. Among the goods shipped to other countries, he highlighted corn, wheat, sunflower oil, and sunflower flour, which together make up about 96% of the total volume.

The Turkish leader was also asked if the issue of ending the war could be tabled for discussion through Turkey's mediation. “I saw that Mr. Putin is now much softer, much more open to negotiations than in the past. We will see where this can lead through phone diplomacy, which we will conduct in the coming days after listening to both leaders,” he said.

Following Erdogan's remarks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Putin has always been open to negotiations and has spoken about this multiple times. “Putin tried to initiate negotiations with NATO, the U.S., and the OSCE before the special operation. He was open to negotiations when the text of the Russian-Ukrainian negotiation document was practically agreed upon,” Peskov emphasized.

He added that only the stance of the Ukrainian side has changed, which has been dissuaded from engaging in dialogue with the Russian Federation. On September 30, Volodymyr Zelensky stated in a video address published on his Telegram channel that Ukraine would not hold any negotiations with Russia as long as Vladimir Putin is the president of that country. He noted that the Ukrainian side had made initiatives in the negotiation process, proposing to Russia to reach an agreement on coexistence based on equal, fair, decent, and just terms. However, he stated, “when Russia is under Putin’s leadership, it is impossible to agree with that,” as reported by gazeta.ru.