Erdogan Urges Resumption of Grain Deal in Call With Putin

Turkey’s president has called on Russia and Ukraine to avoid escalating their conflict and urged the resumption of a deal that had enabled Ukraine to export its grain across the Black Sea, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office said on Wednesday after he spoke by telephone with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir V. Putin.

The call, believed to be the first between the leaders since Moscow unilaterally pulled out of the grain deal more than two weeks ago, came after a series of Russian…