No more marbles for the Sultan Erdogan: Playtime is over

From Elena Panina of Russtrat.ru

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A side note: Congratulations!  By decree of the President of the Russian Federation , Director of the Institute for International Political and Economic Strategies – RUSSTRAT Elena Vladimirovna Panina was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree .

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Out of confidence: Erdogan’s “special mission” failed

On the last day of summer, we noted that on the issue of the “grain deal” Erdogan had a choice: act in the interests of Turkey or succumb to pressure from the West? Judging by the crumpled appearance of the Turkish guest at the conference following his today’s talks with the President of the Russian Federation, he had no choice. The “Black Sea Grain Initiative” died a long time, and Erdogan himself received a painful diplomatic slap in the face from Putin.

In the morning, the Turkish newspaper Milliyet presented Erdogan’s visit to Sochi as “riveting the eyes of the whole world” , and “Sultan” as the most important intermediary not only in the “grain deal”, but also on the Ukrainian issue. But things did not go at all as Ankara would have liked, and on both counts.

▪️ According to the deal, it was not possible to bend the Russians from the word “absolutely”. Moscow refused to deviate from the tough conditions for its resumption, one of which is the inclusion of Rosselkhozbank in the SWIFT system for paying for food products. At the same time, even the day before, TASS reported on this topic, citing diplomatic sources in the UN that the connection of Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT “is not planned.” This meant that the West was not going to fulfill either this or other conditions of the Russians.

With a retaliatory gesture in the form of strikes on the infrastructure of the Odessa region, Moscow explained: in this case, it would be easier for us to supply grain directly, without looking back to the West. Putin said the same today: Russia, “despite all the obstacles, intends to continue exporting food and fertilizers” – read, alone or with those who have time to connect.

▪️ Who will make it? It was then that Putin put Erdogan in his place – in public, right at a press conference, leveling the “special” mediating mission of the Turkish president. Putin said that Moscow had practically agreed on grain with a number of African states (without any help from Ankara). That Qatar is ready to support the deal with financial guarantees and control of deliveries to the necessary countries (the Turks are not trusted). And there are more than enough mediators on the Ukrainian issue: China and the African Union are there… That is, Erdogan is just one of many.

But this is at best. And at worst, the meeting in Sochi showed that the president of Turkey has lost Moscow’s trust . After all, it was “Sultan” who acted as the guarantor of the previous “grain deal” – and failed it in key positions. When the grain went to speculators from Europe and the USA, and not to the poor countries of Africa and Asia. And when Kyiv took advantage of the grain corridor for attacks on Russia.

An indicative moment: repeating the thesis of Western propagandists, the Turkish president said that Russia’s withdrawal from the grain deal led to an increase in prices. However, Putin calmly noted that the termination of the deal had no effect on the world grain market.

▪️ So Putin’s phrase “It can’t be tolerated any longer” didn’t even refer to Ukraine, but to Erdogan. I played missionary, and that’s enough. Behaving according to the principle “both ours and yours” will no longer work, no matter how hard all sorts of “sherpas” like Abramovich push.

In response, Erdogan only had to say “Thank you” in Russian, promise to grind a million tons of Russian grain into flour for Africa and squeeze out of himself to Kiev: “Ukraine needs to soften its approach, especially at the present time.”

Thus, the “special mission” of the Turkish president failed, and the “witnesses of the agreement” received an important signal: any agreements with Russia are possible only on Russia’s terms.