Turkey has failed to persuade Russia to rejoin the Ukraine grain deal

Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) listens to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting at Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi, Monday. Sergei Guneyev/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool Photo via AP hide caption

toggle caption Sergei Guneyev/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) listens to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during their meeting at Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi, Monday.

Sergei Guneyev/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool Photo via AP

MOSCOW — In closely watched talks in the southern Russian resort city of Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected efforts by his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to revive a United Nations-backed deal to allow the safe passage of grain from Ukraine — the latest setback in the grain deal since Moscow exited it in July.

In a news conference at the conclusion of the one-day summit on Monday, Putin recycled a litany of complaints about the U.N. deal, arguing the agreement helped Ukraine export its grain but repeatedly failed to live up to promises to ease Russia's agriculture trade.

nearly 33 million metric tons (36 million tons) of grain and other commodities to leave three Ukrainian ports safely despite the war.

" ahead of the Erdogan talks.

With the grain deal remaining in limbo, the Turkish leader indicated his country was ready to help Russia move forward with a humanitarian initiative to provide free — most of them Kremlin allies.

Since exiting the U.N. agreement, Moscow has taken to repeatedly attacking Ukraine's grain facilities in an apparent bid to further gut the country's agricultural economy.

Indeed, Russia launched missile strikes on grain stores in the Odesa region near Ukraine's border with NATO ally Romania, just a day before Erdogan's arrival.

Russia has also threatened to fire on commercial ships attempting to circumvent a Russian blockade — calling them legitimate military targets.

In his statement, Putin accused Ukraine of abusing the grain deal's humanitarian shipping corridor to strike civilian infrastructure — an apparent reference to repeated Ukrainian attacks on a key bridge linking the Russian mainland to Crimea.

Ukraine argues it respected the humanitarian corridor but that the bridge itself remains a legitimate target given its role in supplying Russian forces operating in southern Ukraine.