Stoltenberg discusses "grain deal" and Sweden's NATO membership with Erdogan

The NATO Secretary General announced this on Twitter.

"Glad to meet President Erdogan in New York. We discussed stepping up our fight against terrorism, and I thanked him for Turkey's work to revive the Black Sea grain deal," Stoltenberg wrote.

He noted that according to the agreement in Vilnius, the Turkish parliament will take up Sweden's membership in NATO as soon as possible.

Work of the "grain corridor": what is known

On 17 July, Russia announced the termination of the grain deal. In response, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that it was necessary to continue using the grain corridor even despite Russia's withdrawal from the agreement. And Kuleba began urgent consultations at the UN.

On August 4, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov said that Ukraine would send ships with its own grain to wherever it deems necessary and would not ask anyone for permission.

On August 12, Ukraine opened the registration of merchant ships and their owners who are ready to use temporary routes to Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea.

On August 16, the first vessel left the port of Odesa after Russia announced that it will terminate the grain deal on July 16, 2023.

On August 16, the first vessel left the port of Odesa after Russia announced that it would terminate the grain deal on July 16, 2023.

On August 25, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. The politicians discussed, among other things, the grain deal. Fidan stated that Ankara sees "no alternative" to the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the original grain deal that Ukraine and Russia concluded with the mediation of the UN and Turkey.

On September 4, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, following a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, expressed hope that an agreement on the Black Sea Grain Initiative would be reached in a short time.

Ukraine's ambassador to Turkey, Vasyl Bodnar, said that Ukraine had submitted a proposal to Turkey to continue the grain corridor without Russia's participation, but had not yet received a final response.

On September 16, Kubrakov said that after Russia withdrew from the grain deal, the occupiers striked Ukraine's ports 118 times. About a third of the infrastructure was damaged or destroyed.

Also on the morning of September 18, the ship, which had been blocked in the port of Odesa for more than a year and a half, left through a new temporary corridor and is now heading to the Bosphorus with metal and rapeseed on board.