Russian Foreign Affairs: The grain agreement was extended by 60 days

By: STA Date: 2023. 03. 15. 09:00

The grain agreement was extended by sixty days, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grusko told the TASZZSZ news agency on Tuesday.

(Photo: Pixabay)

The agreement enabling the export of Ukrainian grain to the Black Sea and the export of Russian agricultural products was signed in July 2022 by representatives of Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the UN. In November, the agreement was extended by 120 days, until March 18. According to Grusko, the parties confirmed the package nature of the agreement. He emphasized that the most important thing for Moscow is the full implementation of the promises and commitments made in connection with the export of Russian products. “In this sense, nothing has changed on our part, we will work hard and force our partners to fulfill their commitments,” the diplomat said. He complained that the lifting of restrictions on the export of Russian agricultural products is proceeding very slowly, and that there is still fertilizer in the ports of many countries, which Moscow is ready to deliver free of charge to the poorest countries. As he said, this is due to deliberate obstruction and delay.

Update

The Ukrainian ministries did not confirm the Russian announcement according to which the grain agreement was extended by sixty days, the Ukrainska Pravda news portal wrote on Tuesday.

According to the news portal, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the agreement was extended as a “goodwill gesture”. At the same time, Moscow complained that restrictions on the export of Russian agricultural products, including the transit of Russian ammonia via the Odessa-Tolyatti ammonia pipeline, were not lifted as part of the grain initiative.
On the other hand, representatives of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not officially confirm the extension of the grain agreement. According to Ukraine, the extension of the grain initiative by only 60 days instead of 120 days is contrary to the documents signed jointly with the UN and Turkey. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Ukraine does not agree to such terms.

MTI