RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin said he would not resume a deal with Ukraine to allow its grain to safely ship through the Black Sea unless Russia's agricultural exports are also unimpeded, reports US Forbes magazine.
President Putin's comments came in a meeting in Sochi, Russia, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan - who helped facilitate the earlier grain deal and had been pushing for a renewal after Russia ended it in July.
President Putin did not specify exact terms though he told President Erdogan he was "open to negotiations", reported the Associated Press.
Talks to restore the grain deal had stalled over the past month, with diplomats from Russia and Turkey failing to reach an agreement in a round of talks last week, and after United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres sought a renewed agreement.
Mr Guterres told reporters "we have some concrete solutions" to address Russia's concerns about the deal - Russia had complained the previous deal unfairly benefitted richer countries and that Russia faced difficulties shipping its fertiliser and grain.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said in July that Russia would "promptly return" to the deal, but only "as soon as the Russian part" of the agreement is fulfilled," TASS reported.
Russia has also blamed a slew of economic sanctions from the West on its ability to export its own grain, claiming those exports are impeded by sanctions on shipping and transport - grain is not explicitly sanctioned.
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