Grain supplies Erdogan ends face-to-face talks with Putin

Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has ended face-to-face talks with Vladimir Putin claiming a deal to export Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea could be revived, but there was no evidence of a breakthrough as the Russian leader again accused the west of reneging on previous promises

- Patrick Wintour

Putin also claimed there was no crisis in global grain markets since Moscow pulled out of the deal two months ago over what it said was the west's failure to keep its side of the bargain covering Russian food and fertiliser exports, saying prices were falling and there was no evidence of food shortages.

His overall stance suggested he believes Russia is benefitted from withdrawing from the grain deal and then bombing Ukrainian ports that previously exported Ukrainian grain. He said he would be willing to "re-animate the deal" when all Russian demands are met.

It was the first face-to-face meeting between Erdoğan, the chief negotiator behind the initial deal, and Putin since the deal collapsed. The immediate backdrop to the meeting in Sochi, Russia, yesterday was another Russian drone strike on a Ukrainian grain-exporting port that damaged warehouses and set buildings on fire. Nato member Romania has denied Ukrainian claims Russian drones fell and detonated on its territory in the attack.

Russian drones have been systematically attacking Ukrainian grain stores since Moscow's withdrawal from the deal and the latest attack on the Danube River port of Izmail in Ukraine's southern Odesa region hit warehouses and production buildings. More than 220,000 tonnes of Ukrainian grain have been destroyed in the Russian assaults, Ukraine says.