The Russian Federation declares that it is allegedly “not against” the extension of the grain initiative, but only for two months
The Russian side stated that it “does not object” to the continuation of the grain initiative, which allows the export of Ukrainian food by sea, but only for 60 days.
This was stated by the deputy head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and the head of the Russian delegation to the negotiations on the grain initiative, Sergey Vershinin.
He stated that “the Russian side does not object to the extension [ініціативи ]for another term, but this term will be 6 days, not 120 days, as it was before.”
At the negotiations, the Russian side demands “concrete progress” regarding Russian agricultural exports and fertilizer exports to the world market, because restrictions allegedly remain that prevent the implementation of exemptions from sanctions for agricultural products of the Russian Federation.
We would like to emphasize that according to the Ministry of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine, the volume of transportation through the seaports of the Russian Federation in the Azov-Black Sea basin in 2022 exceeded the indicators of 2021 and reached 250 million tons, which indicates the absence of obstacles for Russian exports.
Read more in the article: Shortened working day and continuous “tea parties”. How Russia is trying to derail the grain agreement
We remind you:
The contract for the export of Ukrainian grain through the Russian-controlled Black Sea expires on March 18.
Earlier, the mass media reported that Ukraine started online negotiations with partners regarding the continuation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative aimed at ensuring that Kyiv can continue supplying grain to world markets.
The initiative was launched with the mediation of the United Nations and Turkey last July, and was extended in November.
Russia has stated that it will agree to the extension of the Black Sea Grain Agreement only if if interests are taken into account its own agricultural producers.
