Turkish and U.S. foreign ministers Hakan Fidan and Antony Blinken held talks in Istanbul to discuss the Gaza settlement safety of food shipments from Russia and Sweden's application for NATO membership, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

"During the meeting, the ministers discussed the war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Sweden's NATO application process, bilateral and regional issues," the ministry said in a statement following the almost two-hour talks.

CNN Turk television previously also reported the issues that were discussed.

"Fidan said that Turkey does not want tensions in the Black Sea region. They also touched upon the issue of Turkey's efforts to ensure safe shipments to world markets of foodstuffs produced in Russia and Ukraine," a source said.

The Black Sea grain deal, an agreement that was concluded on July 2022 to provide safe passage for ships carrying Ukrainian grain, expired on July 18, 2023. Before it ended, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the terms of the deal were not fulfilled, where they provided benefits to Russia, and the West brought most of the Ukrainian grain to Western countries, while the deal was meant to supply grain to countries in need, including nations in Africa.

Afterward, Ankara and Moscow started discussing a plan to supply 1 million tons of Russian grain to Turkey at a lowered price with financial support from Qatar. The grain would then be milled into flour, which would be shipped to poor African countries.

Blinken arrived in Turkey on January 5. Following Turkey, he will visit Greece, Jordan, Qatar, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Palestine, and Egypt.

***