Ukraine: Russia has agreed to extend an agreement that has enabled Ukraine to transport grain through the Black Sea to regions of the world suffering from food shortages. This move has provided support for global food security, especially after the one-year-long war resulted in a rise in prices.
“I want to give good news. With the efforts of our country, the support of our Russian friends, and the contribution of our Ukrainian friends, the Black Sea Grain Initiative has been extended by another two months,” Turkish President Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated in a televised speech.
Senior officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, and the United Nations met in Istanbul and continued talks to discuss the Black Sea deal and its future.
Turkey and the UN brokered the breakthrough accord with the warring sides last summer, which came with a separate agreement to facilitate shipments of Russian food and fertiliser that Moscow insists has not been applied.
Russia had threatened to bow out if its concerns were not ironed out by Thursday. Such brinkmanship isn’t new. With a similar extension in the balance in March 2023, Russia unilaterally decided to renew the deal for a similar 60 days instead of the 120 days outlined in the agreement.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Ms. Maria Zakharova stated that the deal had been extended to help countries in need but added that Russia’s overall assessment of the agreement “has not changed.”
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Oleksandr Kubrakov commented that “we welcome the continuation of the initiative, but emphasise that it must work effectively.”
“We hope that our partners will do their best to get the grain deal to fully work for the world’s food security and that Russia will eventually stop using food as a weapon and blackmail,” Mr. Kubrakov added.
About 30.3 million metric tonnes of grain have been exported from Ukraine under the Black Sea deal, including 625,000 metric tonnes on World Food Program vessels for aid operations in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Yemen.
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