Russian Defense chief arrives in Istanbul

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has arrived in Istanbul to take part in signing documents on lifting restrictions on exporting Russian products and on Russia's facilitation of Ukrainian grain exports.

During the visit, Shoigu also plans to meet with his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The Kremlin had confirmed earlier in the day that Shoigu would travel to Turkey, where an agreement on resuming grain exports from Ukraine by sea is to be signed.

"Yes, we can confirm that Defense Minister Shoigu has left for Turkey, we can confirm that the signing is being prepared today, but let's wait, let's not run ahead of ourselves," Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Friday.

Delegations from Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Nations held negotiations on settling the problem of grain exports in Istanbul last week, for which Russia prepared and submitted a package of proposals.

It was reported later that the negotiating parties agreed to set up a coordination center in Istanbul and reached a consensus on a grain transportation procedure, which they planned to formalize by signing an official document.