Erdogan hopes to kick-start failed Black Sea grain deal in a visit to Moscow soon

Shafaq News/ Turkey has said that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will visit Russia "soon" for talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on reviving a Black Sea grain deal that could be used as a springboard for broader peace negotiations with Ukraine.

On Monday, Erdogan's ruling AK party spokesman Omer Celik told reporters that the meeting will take place in Russia's Black Sea resort city of Sochi and focus on averting a looming "food crisis".

In televised remarks, Celik said, "as you know, [Erdogan] will pay a visit to Sochi soon."

Meanwhile, Turkish media are reporting that Erdogan could meet the Russian president, possibly as soon as 4 September.

For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that a meeting between the two leaders was being prepared "intensively" but gave no time or place for the talks.

Ankara's communication channels

This comes as Erdogan has used his good relations with both Moscow and Kyiv to try and bring the two sides into formal peace talks.

He last met Putin in the Kazakh capital Astana in October last year. The two also held a teleconference in April that inaugurated a Russian-built nuclear power plant on the eve of Erdogan's tough re-election to his final term in office.

Turkey was a key broker in the only major agreement signed by the warring sides since the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine – a deal to ship grain from three Ukrainian ports across the Black Sea. Ukraine has also stepped up attacks on Russian targets around the Black Sea, but Erdogan has remained undeterred.