Russia’s Foreign Ministry said they had agreed to extend the grain deal for such a short period of time because of some “obstacles” preventing Russia’s exports of agricultural products.
The Russian delegation said that after negotiations with senior UN officials, Moscow had agreed to maintain the “grain deal” for only 60 days. This was stated in a statement by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergei Vershinin.
Therefore, it is stated in the statement that the Russian side does not object to the continuation of the Black Sea initiative after the deadline of 18 March 2023. But for Russia it is not 120 days, but only 60 days, due to some “obstacles” that prevent the export of agricultural products.
Vershinin also talked about Russia’s plans to join the Black Sea agreement in the future.
“Our further position will be determined depending on the real progress towards the normalization of our agricultural exports, it will be determined in action, not in words,” said the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.
According to him, we are talking about bank payments, transport logistics, insurance, the “unwinding” of financial activities, as well as the supply of ammonia through the Togliatti-Odessa pipeline.
Ukraine’s reaction
Ukraine has already reacted to the statement of the Russian side. Ukraine’s Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov, twitter He wrote that according to the agreements, the Black Sea Grain Agreement was extended for 120 days. Therefore, the proposal of the Russian Federation to extend the initiative for 60 days is against the agreement.
“We await the official position of the UN and Turkey as the guarantors of the initiative,” Kubrakov said.
Black Sea Grain Initiative
The documents of the Black Sea Initiative with Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the UN were signed in Istanbul on July 22, 2022. The July agreement established procedures for the safe export of grain from designated ports to try to resolve the food crisis.
Recall that the media reported that the EU extended its personal sanctions against the Russian Federation for six months. The sanctions imposed on nearly 1,500 individuals and 205 legal entities from Russia were extended for another six months by EU countries.
We also recall that the port of Belgorod-Dniester was sold in Ukraine. The winner of the auction for the sale of the Belgorod-Dniester port has 20 working days to pay the land price. Only after receipt of funds in the budget is a sales contract signed.
Source: Focus
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