Turkish Pesident Recep Tayyip Erdogan highlighted the importance of diplomacy at the leaders' level, as he said more extensive steps would be taken regarding the Ukraine grain deal soon, TurkicWorld reports citing Daily Sabah.

Speaking during a joint live broadcast on the ATV and a Haber channels on Wednesday, Erdogan said both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy approach Ankara positively regarding the issue of grain exports.

He noted that Türkiye reciprocates their stance in a positive manner.

The president said the grain deal would prioritize African countries in need as agreed with Putin and that Ankara nad Moscow agreed on grain shipments to Djibouti, Somalia and Sudan.

'Scholz's stance on Putin changed'

Recalling Tuesday's phone call with his German counterpart Olaf Scholz, Erdogan highlighted the importance of "personal relations," to bring "the most important steps" in diplomacy.

"We talked about this (importance of personal relations) with Mr. Putin yesterday," Erdogan said.

The Turkish president said that these calls show that the Russian president "is not someone who will take a step back" if you go against him.

His remarks came after Tuesday's phone call with Olaf Scholz in which they exchanged views on the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Germany's chancellor appreciated Türkiye's efforts to maintain grain exports from Ukraine through the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a German spokesperson said.