ISTANBUL: Russia and Turkiye have reached an agreement to deliver grain free of charge to countries in need including Djibouti, Somalia and Sudan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin "told me during our telephone conversation that we should send grain free of charge to countries including Djibouti, Somalia and Sudan. We have agreed," Erdogan said in a televised address.
"We agreed to discuss this extensively at the G20 summit" in Indonesia, he added.
"We will ensure that grain ships reach all countries in need, especially Somalia, Djibouti and Sudan, which are struggling with serious food crisis and famine."
Russia returned to a grain deal this week which allows Ukrainian exports to pass through the Black Sea.
The July agreement, brokered by the UN and Turkiye, is up for renewal on November 19, three days after the G20 summit concludes in Bali.
Putin has repeatedly criticised the agreement.
On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country would not take part in the G20 if Putin attends. The Russian leader is yet to confirm whether he will or not.
One of the world's largest grain exporters, Ukraine was forced to halt almost all deliveries after Russia invaded the country on February 24.
Putin insists the grain goes mainly to European countries, rather than poorer nations.
Ukraine and European countries refute these accusations.
Russia, Turkiye to send free grain to needy countries: Erdogan
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Russia, Turkiye to send free grain to needy countries: Erdogan
- Russia returned to a grain deal this week which allows Ukrainian exports to pass through the Black Sea
UK defense minister suggests Putin’s ‘hidden hand’ behind Iran tactics
LONDON: UK Defense Minister John Healey suggested on Thursday that Russia was influencing Iran’s use of drone attacks in its war with the United States and Israel.
Healey said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “hidden hand” may be behind some of the tactics deployed by Tehran in the Middle East conflict, which started when the United States and Israel struck Iran on February 28.
He told reporters that officials were analyzing an Iranian-made drone that hit the UK’s Akrotiri air force base in Cyprus on March 1 “for any evidence of Russian or any other foreign components and parts.”
“We will update you and appropriately publish any findings from that when we’ve got them,” he said during a visit to Britain’s military headquarters in Northwood, near London.
“But I think no one will be surprised to believe that Putin’s hidden hand is behind some of the Iranian tactics, potentially some of their capabilities as well, not least because one world leader that is benefiting from the sky high oil prices at the moment is Putin,” he added.
Russia is a close ally of Iran, with the two agreeing last year to help each other counter “common threats.”
US President Donald Trump said Saturday he had no indication Russia was supporting Iran in the war, but that if they were, it was not “helping much.”
Nick Perry, the British military’s chief of joint operations, told Healey there were “definitively” signs of a link between Russia and Iran, including Iran’s use of drones “as learned from the Russians.”
No one was injured when the drone hit a hangar at Akrotiri. British warplanes shot down a further two drones heading for the base the same day.
Guy Foden, a brigadier in the British army, briefed Healey that UK troops based at a military base housing international coalition troops in Irbil, Iraq, had helped shoot down two Iranian drones on Wednesday.
