BAKU. TurkicWorld:

The Türkiye-brokered Black Sea grain export deal will prioritize African countries, as agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Nov. 2, reports TurkicWorld with the reference to Hurriyet Daily News.

“The situation in Djibouti, Somalia and Sudan is not good at all. If there is a problem in any other less developed countries, we will carry out shipments to these countries,” Erdogan said during a live interview.

Both Russia and Ukraine’s leaders approached Türkiye "positively" on the grain export issue, he said, adding: "We answered them positively."

On Nov. 2 Russia rejoined a deal for grain export shipments from Ukraine through a safe Black Sea corridor.

Erdogan said that “shipments will continue from 1200 today (0900 GMT) as planned,” after a call between the Russian and Turkish defense ministers.

“Good news is that following our discussion with Mr. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, Mr. [Russia’s Defense Minister] Sergei Shoigu called Mr. [Defense Minister Hulusi] Akar and announced that grain shipments would continue as of 12:00 today,” Erdogan told his party members at the parliament.

The Russian defense ministry on Wednesday said it obtained written guarantees from Kiev “thanks to the participation” of the U.N. and “assistance” from Türkiye.

It said Kiev guaranteed “the non-use of the humanitarian corridor and Ukrainian ports determined in the interests of the export of agricultural products for conducting military operations against the Russian Federation.”

Russia, on Oct. 29, had said it was temporarily pulling out, accusing Ukraine of misusing the safe shipping corridor to launch a drone attack on its Black Sea fleet.