Türkiye steps up grain deal diplomacy as FM set to visit Ukraine
The Hong Kong-flagged Joseph Schulte, the first cargo ship to leave Ukraine's Odesa port since the end of the grain deal sails on the Bosporus in Istanbul, Türkiye, Aug. 2023. (EPA Photo)


Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is set to visit Ukraine on Aug. 25, Turkish diplomatic sources said Tuesday.

The sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media, did not share further information about the scheduled visit.

"Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will pay a visit to Ukraine on Aug. 25," diplomatic sources said.

In a separate development, according to the last-minute news by private NTV broadcaster, Akif Çağatay Kılıç, the chief advisor of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, departed for Ukraine on Tuesday for talks.

According to NTV, Kılıç is set to attend the Crimean Platform summit in Ukraine and will meet Ukrainian officials.

On the other hand, they also cited presidential sources reportedly saying, "Progress has been made for the grain corridor, the route without Russia is not healthy."

President Erdoğan previously announced that Fidan may visit Russia soon to hold face-to-face talks.

Erdoğan, speaking to reporters as he was returning from a one-day trip to Hungary late Sunday, also said that he might hold face-to-face talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to discuss the deal.

Last month, Russia suspended its participation in the Black Sea grain deal, which it signed last summer along with Türkiye, the U.N. and Ukraine to resume grain exports from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports that were paused after the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022.

The Kremlin cited the lack of implementation of their demands in the deal as grounds for their suspension of the deal. While Russian exports of food and fertilizer are not subject to Western sanctions, Moscow cited restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance as a barrier to shipments.

Since then, Türkiye has engaged in intense diplomatic efforts to resume the deal while Ukraine established a new "humanitarian corridor" with the first ship leaving through it last week.

Türkiye, internationally praised for its unique mediator role between Ukraine and Russia, has repeatedly called on Kyiv and Moscow to end the war, which has now surpassed 500 days, through negotiations.