Russia in favor of renewing the cereals agreement for only sixty days
Moscow said on Monday that it was in favor of renewing the agreement on Ukrainian grain exports, which expires on March 18, for sixty days, and not one hundred and twenty as has been the case so far. The announcement was made by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Verchinin following talks he held in Geneva, Switzerland, with UN Humanitarian Affairs Officer Martin Griffiths and Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad), Rebeca Grynspan.
“The Russian side (…) does not oppose a further extension of the “Black Sea Initiative” after the expiration of its second term on March 18, but only for sixty days”Verchinin said in a written statement sent to the media after the meeting. “Our future position will be determined by tangible progress in normalizing our agricultural exports, not in words, but in deeds. This includes bank payments, transport logistics, insurance, the thawing of financial activities and the supply of ammonia through the Togliatti-Odessa pipeline”he developed.
The so-called Black Sea Agreement, signed in July 2022 for one hundred and twenty days between the UN, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey, has made it possible to limit the serious global food crisis caused by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia on February 24. It was renewed in November for the same period and has so far exported more than 24 million tonnes of grain from Ukrainian ports, according to the UN. China is the first recipient of exports made under the agreement, Spain the second and Turkey the third.
Ukraine called last week for international efforts to keep open the Black Sea shipping lanes used to transport its grain, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called at the G20 in early March for Russia to renew the agreement.
But Russia, for its part, is not happy with another bilateral agreement signed with the UN on Russian fertilizer exports, also signed in July 2022 but which runs for three years. Moscow complains that its exports of fertilizer, a staple for global agriculture, are de facto blocked despite not falling under the sanctions imposed by Western countries since the start of the war. ‘Food and fertilizer sanctions exemptions announced by Washington, Brussels and London are mostly inactive’said Mr. Verchinin again on Monday.