Putin praises ‘useful’ summit with presidents of Iran, Turkey

BSS :
Russian leader Vladimir Putin Tuesday praised his talks with the presidents of Iran and Turkey, speaking after a three-way summit on the Syrian conflict overshadowed by Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine.
Putin said the Syria summit in Tehran had been “truly useful and rather substantial”, describing the atmosphere as “business-like and constructive”.
He said the three leaders adopted a joint declaration, pledging to strengthen cooperation in the interests of the “normalisation” of the situation in Syria.
The Kremlin chief also praised his bilateral meetings with Iran’s ultra-conservative President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He said he and Erdogan discussed the export of Ukrainian and Russian grain as well as food security, but he provided no further details.
At the start of talks earlier in the day Putin praised the Turkish leader for mediating talks on the export of grain from Ukraine, saying there had been some progress.
Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine has hampered shipments from one of the world’s biggest exporters of wheat and other grain, sparking fears of global food shortages.
Putin travelled abroad for only the second time since ordering the offensive in Ukraine on February 24.