Zelensky announced the extension of the grain deal for 120 days

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the Black Sea initiative to export grain from the blocked ports of Ukraine will be extended for 120 days.

“The grain agreement has been extended for 120 days. Ukraine together with [генеральным секретарем ООН] António Guterres and [президентом Турции Реджепом] Tayyip Erdogan made a key decision on the global fight against the food crisis. We are waiting for an official announcement from our partners – the UN and Turkey,” he wrote on Twitter.

The action of the Black Sea initiative to export grain from the blocked ports of Ukraine is extended by agreement of all parties, this was welcomed by UN Secretary General António Guterres.

“I welcome the agreement of all parties to continue the Black Sea Grain Initiative to promote safe shipping in the export of grain, food and fertilizer from Ukraine,” he said (cit. according to RIA Novosti).

Guterres also stressed the UN’s commitment to its commitment to help remove the remaining barriers to food and fertilizer exports from Russia.

As Agence France-Presse reported, citing a diplomatic source in Ankara, the deal is being extended “under current conditions.” At the same time, the source of RIA Novosti informedthat negotiations are ongoing, “the final results will be announced at the end of the meetings.”

On July 22, representatives of Turkey and the UN signed separate agreements with representatives of Russia and Ukraine on the export of Ukrainian grain, as well as on assistance in the export of Russian grain and fertilizers. However, the Russian authorities soon accused the West of non-compliance with the second part of the agreement, which concerns the memorandum between Russia and the UN. At the same time, the UN said that they were working to remove restrictions that hinder the export of Russian grain and fertilizers.

The agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain from the Black Sea ports was designed for 120 days, this period expires on November 18. The second part, related to the export of Russian food, is designed for three years. According to Dmitry Polyansky, Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN, the UN has time to fulfill its obligations to lift restrictions on the export of Russian grain by November 18, since the decision to extend Russia’s participation in the export of Ukrainian grain depends on the effectiveness of fulfilling the terms of the second part of the deal. .

At the end of October, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported that about 3% of agricultural products went to the poorest countries under the UN program, “half of all supplies go to the European Union and such developed countries as the UK, Israel and South Korea.” On October 24, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked the UN Secretariat for statistics on the movement of grain to the final consumer as part of a grain deal. According to Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Western countries claim that most of the grain ends up in Europe and then sent around the world, including to the poorest countries. Lavrov noted that Russia would like to see concrete data on the implementation of the deal.

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