On July 17, Putin will be on his knees, announcing grain deal continuation – Piontkovsky

He stated this on Espreso. 

“Ukrainian military commanders who were captured in Azovstal have returned home from Turkey. In response, Russia expressed its dissatisfaction by declaring its withdrawal from the grain deal. But, in my opinion, Erdogan's most powerful statement is that at the press conference with Zelenskyy, these two leaders said they were concerned about leaving African nations, who are already suffering from hunger, without a stable supply of bread, and they will continue,” according to Piontkovsky.

The political scientist firmly believes that the Russian Federation will soon announce that they are continuing their involvement in the grain deal.

“If Russia chooses not to participate, it's their decision, but they will have to provide their own explanations to the African nations. Turkey and Ukraine, on the other hand, will persist in transporting Ukrainian grain to Africa, and if necessary, they may utilize the Turkish navy for this purpose. I predict that Moscow will eventually backtrack on July 17 and declare their ongoing participation in the grain deal. This will serve as yet another public humiliation for Putin,” he said. 

Grain deal

The Black Sea Grain Initiative was a deal made separately between Russia and the UN, and Ukraine and the UN, with Turkey acting as a mediator. It was agreed upon in July 2022 in Istanbul and has been extended multiple times since then.

In January, the Ministry of Infrastructure stated that the Russians' actions in the Bosphorus were causing a significant disruption in the export of Ukrainian food to the world. The occupiers were deliberately delaying the inspection of ships carrying grain destined for third world countries.

In March 2023, the Russian Federation informed the agreement participants that they wanted to extend the agreement for only 60 days instead of the previously agreed upon 120 days. The deadline for these agreements expired on May 18.

To continue the agreement, the occupiers made certain demands, including:

• The reconnection of Rossilhospbank to SWIFT (a financial messaging network).

• The resumption of the supply of agricultural machinery, spare parts, and services.

• The lifting of restrictions on insurance and reinsurance, as well as the removal of the ban on accessing ports.

• The reopening of the ammonia pipeline Togliatti - Odesa.

• The unblocking of foreign assets and accounts of Russian companies involved in food and fertilizer production and transportation.

On May 17, the grain deal was extended for 60 days. The Russians' demands were not met.

On June 5, the Russian Federation said it saw no prospects for extending the agreement in July, and on June 22, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said it did not see the Russians' readiness to continue the grain initiative.

On July 5, the UN announced its readiness to send a representative to Moscow to "save the grain deal."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on July 8 that his country is working on extending the grain deal for two years.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has offered Russian President Putin to extend the grain deal in exchange for reconnecting Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT. The Kremlin had demanded this earlier

On July 12, Turkey’s Erdogan said that he had received proposals from Putin to extend the grain deal.