Geneva, Mar. 14, (dpa/GNA) - Russia has agreed to an extension to the UN-brokered wartime grain deal with Ukraine that was negotiated last year to facilitate Ukrainian exports via three Black Sea ports.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin on Monday evening announced Moscow had agreed to extend the deal, set to expire next weekend, by 60 days, in a statement published on the website of the Russian embassy to the United Nations, following talks between Russian and UN representatives in Geneva.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative between the UN, Turkey, Ukraine and Russia had come about in July 2022. It allows controlled grain exports from three Black Sea ports.
The grain export agreement, struck after tense negotiations, is considered one of the few diplomatic successes since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
The deal frees millions of tons of grain and other food that would otherwise be stuck in Ukraine due to Russia’s invasion and blockade. It allows for shipments via three Black Sea ports, with Turkey playing a coordinating role.
The deal was previously extended in November after difficult bargaining.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres pushed for an extension of the agreement during meetings with Ukrainian leaders in Kiev last week.
According to the UN, around 23 million tons of grain have been exported from Ukraine as part of the initiative since August 2022.
As part of the negotiations in July last year, the UN also promised to support the unhindered export from Russia of food and fertilizers, including ammonia.
Russia has repeatedly complained that it is hardly able to bring its own exports of food and fertilizers to the world market because of the sanctions imposed by the West as a result of the war.
Vershinin said that further extensions of the grain deal would depend on progress made in that area, including “bank payments, transport logistics, insurance, ‘unfreezing’ of financial activities and ammonia supplies via the ‘Tolyatti-Odessa’ pipeline.”
GNA