The Kremlin said on Tuesday there were “many issues” to be resolved before extending the Black Sea agreements, which allow the export of Ukrainian grain by sea and which Moscow threatens to give up.
“There are still many unanswered questions about the part of the deal that concerns us. We have to make a decision now,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Moscow claims there are still barriers to its own exports of fertilizers and grains, and is therefore threatening to cancel the agreement.
The “Black Sea Grain Export Initiative,” a series of two UN-Turkey-sponsored agreements reached separately with Kyiv and Moscow in July 2022, has resumed Ukrainian grain exports disrupted by the conflict, raising fears of a global food crisis increased.
These agreements were last extended on March 19.
In theory, extensions should be valid for 120 days, but Russia said it had only agreed to a 60-day extension.
The deadline in Moscow expires on the night of May 18.
Moscow claims that while exports of Ukrainian grains have resumed, those of Russian fertilizers and food products are still hampered by obstacles related to the sanctions imposed by Western countries following the start of the Russian offensive against Ukraine on February 24, 2022 .
Russia has made public five requirements for the deal extension, including bringing Russian agricultural bank Rosselkhozbank back into the international Swift banking system and removing barriers to ship security and access to foreign ports.
Intensive negotiations have been going on for several weeks about an extension of the agreement beyond May 18.
Last week, Turkey said the extension of the agreement was “at hand”, which Moscow did not confirm.
Western countries accused Russia of using food “as a weapon”.
Source: DN
