The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday in the Russian seaside resort of Sochi. Among other things, they discussed the war in Ukraine, and the resumption of grain exports across the Black Sea under an agreement Turkey helped to broker.
Shortly before the visit, DW spoke to Maryna Vorotnyuk, a leading expert on the Black Sea region at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London, to ask about Ankara’s mediating role, and how Erdogan was managing to maintain his political balancing act between Russia and Ukraine.
DW: Ms Vorotnyuk, is it fair to say that the resumption of Ukrainian grain exports is primarily a success for Turkey, as the mediating nation, and for its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan?
Maryna Vorotnyuk:…
