Validity Black Sea Grain Initiative, which expired March 18, was extended by 120 days. This statement was made by the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov on Facebook and Twitter on Saturday, March 18th.
At the same time, he expressed gratitude to UN Secretary General António Guterres, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and all Ukraine’s partners for “sticking to the agreements.” According to Kubrakov, since August 1, 2022, due to the Black Sea Initiative, 25 million tons have been exported from Ukraine to the world market. grain.
Earlier in the day, on March 18, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the extension of the grain deal, speaking in the Turkish city of Canakkale in the west of the country. The fact that the agreement has been extended, also confirmed at the United Nations and thanked Turkey for its diplomatic and technical support. The UN message did not say anything about the duration of the deal.
Black Sea Grain Initiative
Signed on July 22, 2022, the Black Sea Grain Initiative is an agreement between the UN, Turkey, Russia and Ukraine on the creation of sea corridors for the safe export of Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea through three ports: Chernomorsk, Odessa and Yuzhny. Second part agreements provides for the removal of barriers to the export of Russian food and fertilizers.
According to Oleksandr Kubrakov, now Ukraine is working to extend the grain deal to the ports of Mykolaiv region.
On March 18, after a message from the Ukrainian side, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Zakharova, said that Russia “notified all participants” of the extension of the deal for 60 days, not 120. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry was quoted by RBC. Earlier, Zakharova pointed to Russia’s dissatisfaction with “implementation of the second part of the deal to ensure the normal agricultural block of this agreement, which is inconsistent with the agreements reached.”
Russia will consider extending the deal after 60 days only if there is “tangible progress” in the execution of the Russian part, according to a copy of the letter from Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzi, obtained by Russian state media.
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